fcibrarp  of  Che  Cheoiocjicai  $$mimxy 

PRINCETON    •    NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

Rev.  James^M.  Moffett 

BV  85  .H86  1881 
Huntington,  F.  D.  1819-1904 
Helps  to  a  holy  Lent 


HELPS 


TO 


A  HOLY  LENT. 


BISHOP  OF  CENTRAL  NEW  YORK, 

4 


NEW  YORK: 

E.    P.    DUTTON    &    COMPANY, 

CHURCH      PUBLISHERS, 
713  BROADWAY, 

1881. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872,  by 

E.  P.  DUTTON  &  CO., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE, 

It  has  been  thought  by  several  friends  that  a 
little  work  like  that  which  follows  would  be  ac- 
ceptable, and  of  some  use.  The  plan  is  very 
simple,  and  will  be  recognized  at  a  glance.  For 
each  of  the  days,  from  Ash-Wednesday  to  Easter 
Even,  a  few  thoughts  are  offered,  such  as  might 
not  otherwise  come  to  mind,  to  assist  the  spirit- 
ual exercises  of  this  sacred  season,  both  by  giving 
a  special  theme  and  perhaps  increased  freshness 
to  private  devotion,  and  by  connecting  the  closet 
with  ordinary  life. 

To  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  principles 
and  history  of  Church-worship  it  will  hardly  be 
necessary  to  say  that  each  daily  portion,  includ- 
ing something  of  Holy  Scripture,  meditation, 
hymn,  and  prayer,  bears  an  analogy  to  our  litur- 
gical appointments,  and  is  a  kind  of  faint  reflection 
in  miniature  of  the  order  of  Divine  Service. 


iv  INTRODUCTORY    NOTE. 

In  order  to  meet  as  many  personal  tastes  and 
shades  of  sentiment  as  possible,  variety  lias  been 
consulted  as  respects  style  and  subjects,  due 
regard  being  had  to  truth  of  doctrine.  A  con- 
siderable part  of  the  pages  is  original.  Most 
of  the  Collects  are  taken  from  English  sources, 
though  many  of  them  are  traceable  to  a  more 
Eastern  origin.  Among  the  names  of  foreign 
authors  from  whose  writings  extracts  have  been 
made  are  those  of  Yaughan  and  Newman,  Liddon 
and  Robertson,  Pusey  and  Isaac  Williams,  Avrillon 
and  Schaufner,  Krummacher  and  Stopford  Brooke, 
Goulburn  and  Eaber,  Ken  and  Keble,  Bonar  and 
Dora  Green  well. 

The  book  has  been  prepared  with  interest.     It 

is  sent  out  without  pretension,  and  with  the  hope 

that,  being   received  into   friendly  hands,  it  may 

make  some  hearts  stronger  and  some  lives  more 

like  the  life  of  our  Lord. 

F.  D.  H. 

Syracuse, 
Feast  of  the  Conversion  of  St.  Paul. 


HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


^0l)~fcDebnes&a». 


Set  your  affection  on  things  above,  not  on  things  on  the 
earth.  For  ye  are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in 
God. 

That  thou  appear  not  unto  men  to  fast,  but  unto  thy 
Father  which  is  in  secret:  and  thy  Father,  which  seeth  in 
secret,  shall  reward  thee  openly. 

To  appoint  unto  them  that  mourn  in  Zion,  to  give  unto 
them  beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  the  gar- 
ment of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness  ;  that  they  might  be 
called  trees  of  righteousness,  the  planting  of  the  Lord,  that  He 
might  be  glorified. 

We  are  not  to  look  on  this  appointment  of  a 
penitential  season  as  an  arrangement  of  our  own. 
It  is  rather  a  sacred  part  of  that  divinely  ordained 
system  of  spiritual  ministries  by  which  the  Lord 
quickens  the  consciences  and  trains  the  holy  life  of 
His  children.  Traces  of  such  a  solemnity  of  forty 
days5  continuance  are  found  all  along  through  the 


6  HELPS   TO    A   HOLT    LENT. 

earlier  and  later  ages  of  Eevelation.  We  know 
that  it  was  the  discipline  of  prophets,  the  reveren- 
tial school  of  saints  who  lived  wonderfully  near  to 
God.  Entering  once  more  upon  it  we  have  not 
to  contrive  a  scheme  of  self-improvement  without 
the  guidance  of  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride.  He 
who  hallowed  Lent  by  the  Great  Fast  on  the  thresh- 
old of  His  mediatorial  work  for  sinful  souls 
passes  into  this  still  retirement  with  us.  All  these 
coming  days  and  nights  He  will  be  our  witness  and 
our  companion.  The  sincerity  or  formality  of  our 
special  observances  wTill  be  known  to  Him.  Our 
self-denials  He  will  share.  The  vows  we  make 
will  be  recorded  in  His  book  of  remembrance.  As 
the  Gospel  for  last  Sunday  told  us,  "  Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth passeth  by."  The  cry  of  our  blindness  and 
our  weakness  will  not  need  to  travel  far  to  reach 
His  ear,  nor  will  He  ever  rebuke  it,  either  for  its 
ignorance  or  its  importunity.  It  is  with  Him  we 
are  to  wralk  all  the  way  going  up  to  Jerusalem. 

There  is  one  kind  of  suffering  which  we  are  not 
simply  to  accept  and  bear ;  we  are  to  ordain  the 
pain  for  ourselves,  to  go  after  it,  to  pray  that  it 
may  be  made  keener  than  it  is.  This  is  penitence. 
If  we  do  not  know  what  that  sorrow  is,  we  are  so 


ASH-WEDNESDAY.  7 

much  farther  from  true  peace.  It  is  because  we 
have  been  living  only  on  the  surface  of  life,  un- 
mindful of  its  deeper  realities,  not  seeing  its  grander 
glories.  Both  Christ  and  His  forerunner,  when 
they  began  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom 
to  the  world,  uttered  one  sharp,  piercing  call: 
"  Kepent !  "  They  did  not  always  go  into  minute 
specifications  of  every  shade  of  siu,  for  they  knew 
that  they  had  for  a  witness  a  conscience  in  every 
breast,  each  heart  knowing  its  own  plague.  They 
knew  that  there  is  always  one  comprehensive 
iniquity  lodged  farther  in  and  spreading  wider 
than  any  particular  offence, — the  sin  of  separation 
from  God.  In  order  to  hate  that  the  more  heartily 
we  must  see  it  as  it  is,  think  about  it,  study  its 
nature  and  workings,  disentangle  its  sophistries 
and  delusions,  and  appreciate  the  wretched  comfort 
it  gives  to  the  adversary.  Ashes  must  be  sprinkled 
first  before  the  ugliness  in  us  can  be  changed  to 
spiritual  beauty.  How  significant  the  image  is ! 
Ashes  are  what  is  left  when  the  fire  is  burnt  out. 
They  are  bitter ;  worse  than  tasteless.  They  are 
pale.  They  are  the  sign  of  humiliation.  ~No  gar- 
ment of  praise  can  be  put  on  till  this  spirit  of 
heaviness  has  first  wrapped  its  sackcloth  about  us. 


8  HELPS   TO   A   HOLY   LENT. 

Coming  once  more  to  the  beginning  of  this  gra- 
cious period  we  ought,  firct  of  all,  to  put  away  all 
superficial  thoughts  and  all  flippant  conventional 
language  about  it.  Do  not  trust  to  vague  general 
intentions; — in  the  observance  they  will  come  to 
nothing,  leaving  only  ashes  in  your  mouth.  Have 
a  plan  which  you  are  not  ashamed  to  own,  and 
which  you  will  probably  be  able  to  carry  steadily 
through.  So  far  as  all  arrangements  of  time  and 
place  and  household  are  at  your  command,  without 
wronging  or  disobliging  others,  make  them  yield 
to  that  plan.  It  is  of  less  importance  just  what 
form  your  self-denial  takes,  than  that  it  take  some 
distinct  form  which  you  can  define  and  present  to 
your  own  mind.  See  that  the  Cross  is  really  laid 
on  somewhere.  Nothing  that  you  cut  off  from 
self-gratification  for  your  Saviour's  sake  will  you 
ever  regret  or  wish  to  take  back.  Choose  out,  if 
you  can,  the  weakest  point.  There  is  appetite  in 
its  several  importunities ;  there  is  the  passion  for 
dress ;  there  is  idleness ;  there  is  the  sin  of  evil 
speaking,  in  fact,  all  the  foul  brood  of  the  trans- 
gressions of  the  tongue ;  there  is  bad  temper ; 
there  is  the  lack  of  courage  in  manifesting  your 
Christian  convictions  and  bearing   open  witness; 


ASH-WEDNESDAY.  tf 

there  is  the  hurrying  or  forgetfulness  of  prayers ; 
there  is  too  little  intercession  ;  there  is  idolatry  of 
the  objects  of  human  love  ;  there  is  pride  ;  there  is 
the  self-seeking  or  self-pleading  that  creeps  even 
into  your  works  of  charity.  Sprinkle  the  ashes 
where  the  moral  deformity  or  disorder  is  most 
cunningly  concealed,  that  the  flesh  of  the  inner 
man  may  come  again  like  the  flesh  of  a  little  child. 
Dismiss  at  once  from  the  mind,  and  keep  out  of  it, 
any  notion  that  your  sacrifices  or  repentances  are 
to  be  reckoned  to  you  as  merits,  or  can  furnish  any 
ground  for  your  justification.  They  are  meant  to 
bring  your  soul  into  that  repentant,  lowly,  and 
teachable  frame,  where  He  who  alone  justifieth  can 
set  His  healing  and  redeeming  power  more  faith- 
fully at  work.  They  cleanse  the  vision ;  they  open 
the  door ;  they  drive  the  tempter  away,  inviting 
in  that  heavenly  Guest  who  stands  now  and  knocks 
with  patient  solicitation,  and  who,  once  bidden 
by  a  sorrowing  and  self-renouncing  faith  to  come 
in,  abideth  ever. 

Once  more  the  solemn  season  calls 

A  holy  fast  to  keep  ; 
And  now  within  the  sacred  walls 

Let  priest  and  people  weep. 


10  HELPS   TO    A   HOLY    LENT. 

But  not  in  tears  and  fast  alone 

Let  penitence  appear ; 
By  holier  life  and  love  be  shown 

That  penitence  sincere. 

POUR  into  our  hearts,  O  Lord,  we  beseech  Thee,  the  grace 
of  penitence,  prayer,  and  lowliness,  that,  mortifying  the 
flesh  and  living  by  the  Spirit,  and  always  meditating  on 
heavenly  things,  we  may  think  meanly  of  ourselves,  and  ever 
find  our  rest  and  glory  in  Thee  alone,  who  livest  and  reignest 
with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost  one  God,  world  without 
end.    Amen. 


SxxQt  <Hf)ttr0&ag. 


Wlioso  dwelletli  under  the  defence  of  the  Most  High,  shall 
abide  under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty.  He  shall  defend 
thee  under  His  wings,  and  thou  shall  be  safe  under  His 
feathers.  His  faithfulness  and  truth  shall  be  thy  shield  and 
buckler. 

We  are  entering  upon  that  solemn  season  of  the 
year  when  for  a  time  we  separate  from  each  other 
as  far  as  may  be,  and  from  the  other  blessings 
which  God  has  given  us.  Like  Moses,  we  have 
gone  up  into  the  mount  to  remain  there  forty  days 
and  forty  nights  in  abstinence  and  prayer.  "We 
are  called,  as  it  were,  out  of  sight ;  for  though  our 
worldly  duties  remain  and  must  be  done,  and  our 
bodily  presence  is  in  the  world  as  it  was,  yet  for 
a  time  we  must  be  more  or  less  cut  off  from  the 
intercourse,  the  fellowship,  the  enjoyment,  of  each 
other,  and  be  thrown  upon  the  thought  of  our- 
selves and  of  our  God.  Earth  must  fade  away 
from  our  eyes,  and  we  must  anticipate  that  great 
and  solemn  truth  which  we  shall  not  fully  under- 


12  HELPS    TO    A    HOLY    LENT. 

stand  until  we  stand  before  God  in  judgment ; 
that  to  us  there  are  but  two  beings  in  the  whole 
world, — God  and  ourselves.  The  sympathy  of 
others,  the  pleasant  voice,  the  glad  eye,  the  smiling 
countenance,  the  thrilling  heart,  which  at  present 
are  our  very  life, — all  will  be  away  from  us  when 
Christ  comes  in  judgment.  Every  one  will  have  to 
think  of  himself.  Every  eye  shall  see  Him  ;  every 
heart  will  be  full  of  Him.  He  will  speak  to  every 
one ;  and  every  one  will  be  rendering  to  Him  his 
own  account.  By  self-restraint,  by  abstinence,  by 
prayer,  by  meditation,  by  recollection,  we  now  an- 
ticipate in  our  measure  that  dreadful  season.  Let 
us  not  shrink  from  this  necessary  work ;  let  us  not 
suffer  indolence  or  casual  habits  to  get  the  better 
of  us.  Let  us  not  yield  to  disgust  or  impatience ; 
let  us  not  fear  as  we  enter  the  cloud.  Let  us  recol- 
lect that  it  is  His  cloud  which  overshadows  us.  It 
is  no  earthly  sorrow  or  pain,  such  as  worketh  death  ; 
but  it  is  a  bright  cloud  of  godly  sorrow,  "  working 
repentance  to  salvation  not  to  be  repented  of." 

Forty  days  and  forty  nights 
Thou  wast  fasting  in  the  wild  ; 

Forty  days  and  forty  nights 
Tempted,  and  yet  undefiled. 


FIRST   THURSDAY.  13 

Sunbeams  scorching  all  the  day  ; 

Chilly  drew-drops  nightly  shed  ; 
Prowling  beasts  about  Thy  way  ; 

Stones  Thy  pillow  ;  earth  Thy  bed. 
Shall  not  we  Thy  sorrows  share, 

And  from  earthly  joys  abstain, 
Fasting  still  with  instant  prayer, 

Glad  with  Thee  to  suffer  pain  ? 

OKINGr  of  heaven  and  earth,  rich  in  mercy  !  behold  we  are 
poor  and  needy.  Thou  knowest  how  greatly  we  are  in 
need,  and  thou  alone  art  able  to  help  and  enrich  us.  0  Lord, 
look  graciously  upon  us,  and  from  the  treasures  of  Thy  good- 
ness succor  the  poverty  of  our  souls,  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord.    Amen. 


iftret  ifrtoctg. 


Ouglit  not  Christ  to  have  suffered  these  things,  and  to 
enter  into  His  glory  ? 

We  must  through  much  tribulation  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God. 

I  was  like  a  lamb  or  an  ox  that  is  brought  to  the  slaughter. 

Jeremiah  speaks  literally,  in  his  own  person  as 
an  individual,  of  the  persecutions  he  endured ; 
but,  as  a  prophet,  he  speaks  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  is 
that  Lamb  sacrificed  in  types,  from  the  beginning 
of  the  world,  in  innocent  Abel,  and  afterward  in 
the  Paschal  Lamb,  and  in  all  the  sacrifices  of 
lambs  which  were  commanded  by  the  Law ;  but 
the  real  Lamb  is  the  Lamb  pointed  out  by  John 
Baptist  to  his  disciples,  when  he  said :  "  Behold 
the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world." 

Behold,  then,  this  mild  and  patient  Lamb  about 
to  be  led  to  death  because  He  so  loved  us  as  to 
take  our  sins  on  Himself  that  He  might  bear  the 


FIKST   FRIDAY.  15 

punishment  of  them.  That  Lamb,  who  is  God,  is 
going  to  make  on  the  Cross  a  wonderful  union 
of  two  qualities,  hitherto  separate ;  that  is  to  say, 
He  will  be  both  the  priest  and  the  victim.  As  a 
victim,  He  will  pay  our  debts;  as  a  priest,  He  will 
offer  the  one  great  and  only  sacrifice  of  our  religion. 
The  Cross  will  be  the  altar  and  the  bloody  cradle 
in  which  all  the  faithful  will  be  born,  and  the  firm 
foundation  which  will  support  the  whole  edifice  of 
Christianity.  Thence  it  comes  that  this  Christian- 
ity has  only  been  established  in  the  world  by  suffer- 
ings, and  it  can  only  be  established  and  supported 
in  our  souls  by  them ;  and  it  is  for  us,  says  St.  Paul, 
to  see  how  we  shall  build  on  this  foundation  by 
following  the  bleeding  steps  of  the  suffering  Jesus. 
If  you  have  ever  seriously  reflected  on  God's  con- 
duct toward  you,  you  will  see  that,  when  you  have 
strayed  from  the  right  path,  it  was  by  suffering 
that  God  brought  you  back  again  to  the  religion 
which  prosperity  had  made  you  forget.  In  short, 
we  then  feel  constrained  to  raise  our  eyes  to 
heaven,  we  call  upon  the  Lord ;  grace  acts  on  our 
souls ;  we  begin  to  feel  that  these  sufferings  were 
necessary  to  retrace  in  our  hearts  the  almost  effaced 
characters  of  the  divine  image.     We  see  the  ex^ 


16  HELPS    TO    A    HOLY    LENT. 

treme  weakness  of  the  creature,  to  whom  we  had 
recourse  in  the  beginning  of  our  troubles,  and,  con- 
vinced of  the  weakness  of  this  resource,  which  at 
the  most  has  only  given  us  some  fruitless  consola- 
tion which  did  not  free  us  from  suffering,  we  turn 
to  God,  and,  invoking  Him  with  all  our  heart,  we 
find  in  Him  all  that  we  desired,  and  we  feel  con- 
strained to  say,  with  the  prophet :  "  Before  I  was 
afflicted,  I  went  astray,  but  now  have  I  kept  Thy 
Word.  It  is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been  afflicted ; 
that  I  might  learn  Thy  statutes." 

Our  faith  would  lay  its  hand 

On  that  dear  head  of  Thine. 
O  Lamb  of  God,  we  stand 

And  there  confess  our  sin. 
Oft  look  we  back  to  see 

The  burdens  Thou  didst  bear 
When  hanging  on  the  cruel  Tree, 

And  trust  our  guilt  was  there. 

0  ALMIGHTY  Lord,  hear  our  prayers,  grant  our  petitions 
in  this  time  of  grace  and  penitence ;  enable  us  to  per- 
form our  religious  duties  with  all  the  exactitude  and  rever- 
ence of  which  we  are  capable,  and  grant  that  the  fasts  conse- 
crated by  the  example  and  precepts  of  Thy  adorable  Son  may 
be  pleasing  in  Thy  sight,  and  may  we  finally  obtain  glory  ever- 
lasting. And  this  we  beg  through  the  merits  and  mediation 
of  Jesus  Christ  Thy  Son  our  Lord.     Amen. 


JFirst  Satur&aB. 


fr* 


Ye  are  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  an  holy- 
nation,  a  peculiar  people ;  that  ye  should  show  forth  the 
praises  of  Him  who  hath  called  you  out  of  darkness  into  His 
marvellous  light. 

Of  the  whole  Christian  year,  let  me  say  that  to 
live  in  it,  and  by  it,  is  the  best  way  of  serving  the 
Lord.  Keep  these  days.  If  you  cannot  leave  off 
your  work  on  all  of  them,  never  mind,  so  you  hal- 
low them  at  least  in  your  heart.  O  children  of  the 
Church !  live  in  the  Church,  love  her  holy  ways, 
walk  in  her  paths  of  peace,  look  not  beyond.  You 
have  naught  to  do  with  those  who  are  without,  but 
to  treat  them  kindly,  do  good  to  them,  and  pray 
for  them.  In  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  you  have 
your  portion ;  be  content ;  give  God  thanks ;  be 
at  rest.  Live  by  the  Bible  and  the  Prayer  Book. 
Begin  each  day  with  prayer;  go  forth  to  your 
work  and  to  your  labor  until  the  evening;  lie 
2 


18  HELPS    TO    A    HOLY    LENT. 

down  with  the  eye  of  Jesus  looking  upon  you,  and 
the  holy  angels  watching  around.  Do  good  in  your 
time.  Be  sober,  industrious,  true,  honest,  kind. 
Fulfil  your  course.  Lay  hold  on  all  the  helps 
which  the  Lord  puts  within  your  reach  to  bring 
you  to  heaven.  So  shall  your  walk  be  close  with 
God ;  so  shall  you  at  length  rest  in  Him  with  the 
blessing  of  the  Holy  Church  upon  your  grave ; 
so  shall  you  wake  in  the  last  great  morning,  to  rise 
and  go  to  your  Father's  House;  to  be  brought 
close  to  that  Lord  of  whose  body  you  are  a  mem- 
ber, and  from  whose  side  you  will  never  be  parted ; 
to  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world. 

Thus  everywhere  we  find  our  suffering  God, 

And  where  He  trod 
May  set  our  steps  :  the  Cross  on  Calvary 

Uplifted  high 
Beams  on  the  martyr  host,  a  beacon  light 

In  open  fight. 

To  the  still  wrestlings  of  the  lonely  heart 

He  doth  impart 
The  virtue  of  His  midnight  agony 

When  none  was  nigh, 
Save  God  and  one  good  angel,  to  assuage 

The  tempter's  rage. 


FIRST    SATURDAY.  19 

JESUS,  our  Master,  do  Thou  meet  us  while  we  walk  in  the 
way,  and  long  to  reach  the  Heavenly  Country,  so  that, 
following  Thy  light,  we  may  keep  the  way  of  righteousness, 
and  never  wander  away  into  the  horrible  darkness  of  this 
world's  night,  while  Thou,  who  art  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and 
the  Life,  art  shining  within  us.    Amen. 


JFtrst  Stmtrag. 


The  Lord  send  thee  help  from  the  Sanctuary  and  strengthen 
thee  out  of  Sion. 

And  He  said  unto  them,  Come  ye  yourselves  apart  into  a 
desert  place  and  rest  awhile,  for  there  were  many  coming 
and  going. 

It  brings  our  Lord  in  His  humanity  very  near  to 
us  to  find  Him  disturbed  by  the  confusion  of  a 
crowd,  and,  while  the  weight  of  the  whole  spiritual 
creation  rests  perpetually  on  His  heart,  seeking 
rest  from  the  world  by  an  hour's  retirement.  There 
is  at  the  same  time  a  very  beautiful  disclosure  of 
the  tender  thoughtfulness  of  His  sympathy  with 
His  followers.  His  disciples  have  been  busily  toil- 
ing on  His  errands.  He  bids  them  come  and  learn 
something  of  His  moments  of  rest.  Come,  He 
says,  into  this  healing  air  of  solitude.  By  a  more 
intimate  communion  with  Me  alone  gain  a  clearer 
comprehension  of  the  great  work  of  your  life  and 


FIRST    SUNDAY.  21 

of  the  peace  which  is  its  only  reward,  of  the  Cross 
you  must  daily  bear,  and  the  secret  consciousness 
of  Divine  love  which  makes  that  Cross  light.  The 
Saviour  appears  to  have  been  especially  apt  to  go 
away  alone  at  periods  of  peculiar  difficulty,  as  if 
the  girding  up  of  His  mind  for  the  holiest  acts  of 
sacrifice  could  best  be  done  apart  from  all  mortal 
society.  Having  not  where  to  lay  His  head  He 
made  the  border  of  the  desert  His  closet,  or  the 
mountain-top  His  sanctuary,  watching  unto  prayer 
all  night,  wrestling  for  the  world's  salvation  while 
the  world  slept,  unmindful  even  of  its  need  to  be 
saved.  In  the  spiritual  history  of  men  it  is  re- 
markable how  often  the  commanding  spirits  that 
have  done  most  to  bless  their  fellows,  and  reform 
their  age,  have  drawn  their  inward  strength  from 
above  in  such  seasons  of  seclusion.  Solitude  is  the 
Divinely  appointed  refuge  of  penitence,  of  self- 
examination,  of  holy  resolutions  yet  new  and 
feeble,  of  prayer.  It  is  a  means  of  grace ;  Chris- 
tian character  rarely  obtains  its  heavenly  flavor 
without  it.  When  the  Twelve  withdrew  from 
where  many  were  coming  and  going,  and  did  so  at 
His  invitation,  they  went  deeper  down  than  before 
into  the  realities  of  the  Divine  life,   because,    to 


22  HELPS   TO   A    HOLT   LENT. 

speak  as  we  do  of  our  human  intercourse,  they  had 
the  Master  all  to  themselves. 

The  expression,  "  Many  were  coming  and  going 
and  there  was  no  leisure,"  is  strikingly  descriptive 
of  our  times.  We  are  hurrying  on  with  a  fast- 
living  and  outward-living  generation,  in  a  self- 
indulgent,  showy,  noisy  age.  The  Church  never 
needed  the  doctrine  of  religious  stillness  and  retire- 
ment more  than  now.  But  the  Church  is  made  up 
of  individuals,  and  I  am  among  them.  My  loyalty 
to  its  honor,  my  independence  of  the  tyranny  of 
fashion,  my  cleanness  from  all  the  doubtful  usages 
and  social  defilements  by  which  I  am  tempted 
every  day,  my  personal  faithfulness  to  Christ,  will 
be  in  proportion  to  the  use  I  make  of  the  seasons 
when  I  am  apart  with  Him. 

Many  a  dreary  sunset,  many  a  dreary  dawn, 

We  had  watched  upon  those  desert  hills  as  we  pressed  slowly 

on. 
Yet  sweet  had  been  the  silent  dews  which  from  God's  presence 

fell, 
And  the  still  hours  of  resting,  by  palm-tree  and  by  well, 
Till  we  pitched  our  tent  at  last — the  desert  done — 
Where  we  saw  the  hills  of  the  Holy  Land  gleam  in  the  sink- 
ing sun. 


FIRST   SUNDAY.  23 

OLORD,  may  our  souls  perceive  the  sweetness  of  Thy  pres- 
ence. May  they  taste  and  see  how  gracious  Thou  art, 
that,  filled  with  Thy  love,  they  may  seek  nothing  out  of  Thee 
wherein  to  rejoice  ;  for  Thou,  0  Lord,  art  the  joy  of  our  heart, 
and  our  portion  forever.    Amen. 


.first  iHon&tm 


&> 


And  Moses  was  there  with  the  Lord  forty  days  and  forty 
nights.  And  it  came  to  pass  when  he  came  down  from  Mount 
Sinai  with  the  two  tables  of  testimony  in  his  hand,  that 
Moses  wist  not  that  his  face  shone. 

And  as  they  came  down  from  the  mountain,  he  charged 
them  that  they  should  tell  no  man  what  things  they  had  seen 
till  the  Son  of  Man  were  risen  from  the  dead.  And  when  He 
came  to  His  disciples,  He  saw  a  great  multitude  about  them, 
and  the  Scribes  questioning  with  them ;  and  straightway  all 
the  people  when  they  beheld  Him  were  greatly  amazed,  and 
running  to  Him,  saluted  Him. 

Faith,  if  it  hath  not  works,  is  dead,  being  alone. 

If  the  way  of  faith  and  prayer  runs  from  society 
to  solitude,  we  mnst  remember  that  the  way  of 
charitable  work  runs  back  from  seclusion  to  society. 
In  the  perfect  life  of  the  Son  of  God  this  alterna- 
tion is  constant  between  seclusion  and  service,  still- 
ness and  activity.  We  learn  from  it  the  law  of  our 
own  religious  growth.  Precious  as  the  periods  of 
refreshment  are,  they  are  after  all  but  temporary. 


FIRST    MONDAY.  25 

They  are  intervals  of  useful  labor,  not  substitutes 
for  it.  Separation  from  men  may  possibly  be 
sought  for,  owing  to  morbid  moods,  and  it  may 
create  them.  Like  other  means  of  grace,  religious 
retirement  has  its  peculiar  temptations, — pride,  un- 
healthy introspection,  indolence,  disparagement  of 
other  men.  Accordingly,  the  real  value  of  going 
apart  into  solitary  places  must  be  tested  by  the 
spirit  with  which  we  return  from  them  into  the 
ordinary  engagements  of  our  households  and  the 
world. 

Lents,  holy  days,  communions,  special  hours  of 
unwonted  elevation,  must  all  be  tried  by  that 
practical  criterion.  They  are  scattered  along  the 
Christian's  road,  Elims  in  his  desert,  banqueting- 
houses  upon  his  march,  to  make  the  common  time 
more  sacred,  the  required  work  better  done.  The 
Church  herself  has  to  take  her  turn  in  lonely  spots, 
sometimes  in  humiliation,  persecution,  and  pov- 
erty; and  it  is  in  order  that  the  Bride  may  be 
brought  back  to  the  Bridegroom  more  faithful  in 
her  love,  more  abundant  in  her  sacrifice.  "  There- 
fore, behold,  I  will  allure  her  and  bring  her  into 
the  wilderness  and  speak  comfortably  unto  her. 
And  I  will  give  her  her  vineyards  from  thence, 


26  HELPS    TO    A    HOLY    LENT. 

the  Yalley  of  Achor  for  a  door  of  hope,  and  she 
shall  sing  there  as  in  the  days  of  her  youth."  Most 
of  our  time  must  be  spent  in  the  vineyards  where 
we  dig  and  prune.  All  rest  is  for  the  sake  of  that 
toil.  The  Sabbath  is  for  man ;  the  forty  days  are 
ordained  to  touch  all  days  with  a  new  sanctity. 
Our  closets  open  from  the  places  where  men  come 
and  go.  Something  in  our  very  prayers  will  be 
wrong  unless  we  pass  from  them  into  the  daily 
ministrations  and  drudgeries  with  more  patience, 
more  self-surrender,  a  kindlier  forbearance  with 
the  infirmities  of  those  around  us,  and  a  heartier 
effort  to  yield  our  interests  to  theirs  for  the  Re- 
deemer's sake.  Our  very  rests  will  be  unrefresh- 
ing  without  Him,  and  He  only  makes  the  retire- 
ment  sacred,  and  society  safe. 

Come,  labor  on : 
Who  dares  stand  idle  on  the  harvest  plain, 
While  all  around  him  waves  the  golden  grain, 
And  every  servant  hears  the  Master  say  : 
"  Go  work  to-day  ?  " 

Come,  labor  on : 
No  time  for  rest,  till  glows  the  western  sky 
While  the  long  shadows  o'er  our  pathway  lie, 
And  a  glad  sound  comes  with  the  setting  sun  : 
"  Servants,  well  done  !  " 


FIEST   MONDAY.  27 

OLORD  Jesus  Christ,  who  hast  declared  that  when  we  have 
done  all  that  is  commanded  us,  we  are  still  unprofitable 
servants  ;  give  us  grace  so  to  fix  our  eyes  on  Thy  most  pure 
and  holy  life,  that  we  may  know  our  own  impurity  and  sin, 
and  seek  in  all  humility  to  be  conformed  unto  Thy  will,  Who 
livest  and  reignest  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost  one 
God,  world  without  end.    Amen. 


# 


n 


fix&t  ©ucs&ctg, 


Be  careful  for  nothing ;  but  in  everything  by  prayer  and 
supplication  with  thanksgiving  let  your  requests  be  made 
known  unto  God. 

There  is  many  a  Christian  who  reaches  nothing 
more  than  this  (nay,  who  aims  at  nothing  more),  that 
devotion  shall  have  its  little  hour  in  the  day,  and 
business  its  long  hours ;  and  great  is  his  complacency 
if  the  business  hours  are  not  allowed  to  trench  upon 
the  hour  of  devotion.  I  am  not  saying  anything 
against  stated  periods  of  devotion ;  they  are  abso- 
lutely essential,  and  it  is  only  too  certain  that,  in 
the  absence  of  stated  periods,  the  spirit  of  devotion 
would  evaporate  altogether.  But  I  am  saying  that 
the  soul  will  never  taste  a  full  satisfaction  until  it 
has  learned  more  or  less  to  mix  devotion  with  work. 
The  soul  must  not  leave  God  for  an  instant  if  it  is 
to  be  perfectly  joyous  and  contented.  Let  it  take 
but  a  step  away  from  Him,  and  it  is  at  once  in  a 


FIRST   TUESDAY.  29 

region  of  excitement  and  unrest,  and  so  far  forth, 
of  danger.  Remember  that  the  New  Testament 
teaching  makes  unbroken  communion  with  God 
obligatory  upon  us.  It  names  no  seasons  for 
prayer,  or  rather  it  names  every  season.  "Pray 
without  ceasing."  My  friend,  I  do  not  ask  whether 
you  have  completely  acquired  the  habit  of  inter- 
penetrating your  daily  employments  with  the  spirit 
of  devotion  (that  is  the  case  with  none  of  us,  least 
of  all,  probably,  with  the  present  writer) ;  but 
are  you  placing  this  before  you  as  your  standard, 
and  sincerely  trying  to  reach  it  %  Ejaculatory 
prayer  is  the  great  means  of  reaching  it.  Do  you 
ever  use  ejaculatory  prayer  ?  Do  you  ever  lift  up 
your  heart  to  God  in  the  midst  of  your  work,  pray- 
ing Him  to  shield  you  from  temptation,  to  bless  you 
in  what  you  are  doing,  and,  at  all  events,  not  to  let 
you  wander  very  far  from  His  side  ?  Do  not  say  it 
is  impossible ;  for  to  this  and  no  lower  standard  you 
are  called,  both  by  the  constitution  of  your  nature 
and  by  the  precept,  "  Pray  without  ceasing  ; "  and, 
oy  the  grace  of  God,  all  things  which  He  com- 
mands are  possible.  You  will  say,  perhaps,  "  I  try 
to  keep  my  mind  continually  in  the  right  track ; 
but,  alas !  it  is  thrown  off  its  balance  a  thousand 


30  HELPS   TO    A   HOLY   LENT. 

times  a  day  by  having  to  do  things  in  a  hurry  and 
against  time ;  by  a  warm  conversation  ;  by  a  piece 
of  interesting  news ;  by  domestic  worries  and  cares ; 
by  little  rubs  of  the  temper."  So  it  is  most  truly. 
The  mind  wants  steadying  and  setting  right  many 
times  a  day.  It  resembles  a  compass  placed  on  a 
rickety  table ;  the  least  stir  of  the  table  makes  the 
needle  swing  around  and  point  untrue.  Let  it  settle, 
then,  till  it  points  aright.  Be  perfectly  silent  for  a 
few  moments,  thinking  of  Jesus  ;  there  is  an  almost 
Divine  force  in  silence.  Drop  the  thing  that  wor- 
ries, that  excites,  that  interests,  that  thwarts  you ; 
let  it  fall  like  a  sediment  to  the  bottom,  until  the 
soul  is  no  longer  turbid ;  and  say  secretly  :  "  Grant, 
I  beseech  Thee,  merciful  Lord,  to  Thy  faithful  ser- 
vant pardon  and  peace ;  that  I  may  be  cleansed 
from  all  my  sins,  and  serve  Thee  with  a  quiet  mind" 

The  crowd  of  cares,  the  weightiest  cross, 

Seem  trifles  less  than  light ; 
Earth  looks  so  little  and  so  low, 

When  faith  shines  full  and  bright. 

OLORD  of  pity,  who  wiliest  naught  but  good,  leave  me  not 
to  walk  in  mine  own  will ;  but  overrule  me  to  act  at  all 
times  according  to  Thy  will,  which  is  always  good.  And  have 
mercy  on  Thy  creatures,  and  on  me  a  great  sinner ;  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour.    Amen. 


8ttonb  fcDe&nes&ctB. 


(oH-' 


Let  us  humble  ourselves  therefore  under  the  mighty  hand 
of  God,  that  He  may  exalt  us  in  due  time. 

Without  humility  religious  progress  is  impossible. 
Pride  is  the  destruction  of  the  principle  of  progress  ; 
it  whispers  to  us  continually  that  we  are  all  that 
could  be  desired,  or  it  points  our  attention  to  high 
positions  and  ambitious  efforts  beyond  the  scope  of 
other  men.  Yet  the  true  growth  of  the  soul  is  not 
to  be  measured  by  our  attempting  many  extraor- 
dinary duties,  but  by  our  power  of  doing  simple 
duties  well;  and  humility,  when  it  reigns  in  the 
soul,  carries  this  principle  into  practice.  It  bids  us 
hallow  our  work,  especially  whatever  may  be  to  us 
hard  or  distasteful  work,  by  doing  it  as  a  matter  of 
principle.  It  bids  us,  when  on  our  knees,  use  sim- 
ple prayers.  We  do  well  to  retain  the  very  prayers 
which  we  used  as  children,  however  we  may  add  to 


32  HELPS    TO    A    HOLY    LENT. 

them ;  and  to  throw  our  whole  soul  into  each  sepa- 
rate clause  and  word.  It  enriches  common  acts  of 
neighborly  and  social  kindness  with  that  intensity 
of  moral  effort  which  is  due  to  every  act  of  which 
the  deepest  moving  power  is  the  love  of  God. 
Without  humility,  no  soul  that  has  turned  to  God 
and  is  learning  to  serve  Him  is  for  a  moment  safe. 
The  whole  life  of  the  living  soul  is  the  work  of 
Divine  grace  ;  and  while  pride  claims  merit  for 
self,  and  therefore  goes  before  a  fall,  humility  con- 
fesses, day  by  day,  "  By  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what 
I  am."  The  higher  you  climb  the  mountain  side, 
the  more  fatal  must  be  your  fall,  if  you  do  fall :  if 
you  would  look  over  the  giddy  precipice  without 
risk,  you  must  first  stoop  to  lay  firm  hold  on  the  rock 
of  humility.  For  humility  is  the  condition  and 
guarantee  of  grace;  and,  as  St.  Augustine  says, 
there  is  no  reason,  apart  from  the  grace  of  God, 
why  the  highest  saint  should  not  be  the  worst  of 
criminals. 

Thy  breast  to  beat,  thy  clothes  to  rend, 

God  asketh  not  of  Thee  ; 
Thy  stubborn  soul  He  bids  thee  bend 

In  true  humility. 


SECOND    WEDNESDAY.  33 

0  let  us  then,  with  heartfelt  grief, 

Draw  nearer  unto  God, 
And  pray  that  He  will  grant  relief, 

Will  stay  the  lifted  rod. 

GRANT,  we  beseech  Thee,  0  Lord,  the  true  fruit  of  repent- 
ance to  those  who  have  wandered  out  of  the  way  through 
sin,  that  they  may  obtain  pardon  for  their  offences,  and  be 
restored  cleansed  to  Thy  Holy  Church ;  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord.    Amen 
8 


0££Otti>  Ctjttrs&ag. 


Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  her,  0  Woman,  great  is  thy 
faith,  be  it  unto  thee  even  as  thou  wilt. 

And  this  is  the  confidence  that  we  have  in  Him,  that,  if  we 
ask  anything  according  to  His  will,  He  heareth  us. 

Pray  modestly  as  to  the  things  of  this  life  ;  ear- 
nestly for  what  may  be  helps  to  your  salvation ; 
intensely  for  salvation  itself,  that  you  may  forever 
behold  God,  love  God. 

Cleanse  your  heart  now  :  for  "  the  pure  in  heart 
shall  see  God." 

Be  alone  with  God,  that  your  soul  may  be  free  to 
speak  to  Him,  and  to  hear  Him.  But  be  alone  in 
your  inmost  hearts,  shutting  out  busy,  anxious 
thoughts,  that  they  throng  not  in  with  the  prayers, 
and  cloud  not  the  sight  and  thought  of  God. 

Practise  in  life  whatever  thou  prayest  for,  and 
God  will  give  it  thee  more  abundantly. 


SECOND    THURSDAY.  35 

Bear  patiently  and  humbly  all  daily  crosses,  con- 
tradictions, rebukes,  and  whatsoever  is  against  thine 
own  will.  They  will  conform  thee  to  the  mind  of 
God,  be  channels  of  grace  which  will  cleanse  thy 
soul  for  vet  further  grace. 

Deny  thyself  things  earthly,  if  thou  wouldest 
taste  the  sweetness  of  things  heavenly. 

Above  all  things,  persevere  in  prayer.  Many 
begin  well ;  many  hold  on  for  a  time  well ;  many 
pray  well  from  time  to  time ;  some,  alas  !  can  even 
work  themselves  up  from  time  to  time  to  think  they 
pray  well,  and  to  feel  what  they  pray ;  many  begin 
again  and  again  well.  Few  persevere ;  for  few 
they  be  who  find  the  straight  gate  and  narrow  way 
which  leadeth  unto  life. 

If  thou  hast  begun,  pray  that  thou  mayest  pray 
better.  If  thou  hast  failed,  pray  to  begin  again,  and 
to  persevere.  All  who  pray  to  persevere  gain 
what  they  pray  for.  None  who  so  prayed  has 
perished. 

Wo  need  as  much  the  Cross  we  bear, 
As  air  we  breathe,  as  light  we  see, — 

It  draws  us  to  Thy  side  in  prayer, 
It  binds  us  to  our  strength  in  Thee. 


36  HELPS   TO   A    HOLY    LENT. 

0  ALMIGHTY  God,  help  Thou  our  weakness,  and  because  we 
can  neither  perform  nor  even  pray  for  what  is  right  of  our 
selves  as  oi  ourselves,  arouse  by  Thy  Holy  Spirit  in  our  hearts 
groanings  of  prayer  which  cannot  be  uttered,  that  by  Thy 
loving  kindness  there  may  be  given  unto  us  both  the  will  to 
ask  and  the  power  to  accomplish  what  is  well  pleasing  unto 
Thee  ;  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.    Amen. 


Second  iri&ag. 


After  that  He  pouretli  water  into  a  bason,  and  began  to  wash 
the  disciples'  feet,  and  to  wipe  them  with  the  towel  wherewith 
He  was  girded.  Then  cometh  He  to  Simon  Peter  :  and  Peter 
saith  unto  Him,  Lord,  dost  Thou  wash  my  feet  ?  Jesus  an- 
swered and  said  unto  Him,  What  I  do  thou  knowest  not  now  ; 
but  thou  shalt  know  hereafter.  Peter  saith  unto  Him,  Thou 
shalt  never  wash  my  feet.  Jesus  answered  him,  If  I  wash 
thee  not,  thou  hast  no  part  with  Me.  Simon  Peter  saith  unto 
Him,  Lord,  not  my  feet  only,  but  also  my  hands  and  my  head. 
Jesus  saith  to  him,  He  that  is  washed  needethnot  save  to  wash 
his  feet,  but  is  clean  every  whit. 

"  Thou  shalt  never  wash  my  feet,"  said  the  mis- 
taken disciple.  But  listen  to  the  Saviour's  reply  : 
"  If  I  wash  thee  not,  thou  hast  no  part  with  Me." 
What  an  important  declaration  is  this  !  You  per- 
ceive how  the  more  profound  and  mystic  meaning 
of  our  Lord's  act  shines  forth  in  these  words, — 
namely,  as  having  reference  to  the  blood  of  atone- 
ment, to  forgiveness,  justification,  and  purification 
from  sin.     How  much  lies  concealed  in  this  passage, 


38  HELPS    TO   A   HOLT   LENT. 

and  how  every  syllable  has  its  profound  signifi- 
cation !  "If  1  wash  thee  not."  Yes,  Thon,  Lord 
Jesus,  must  do  it ;  for  who  ever  purified  himself 
from  sin?  "If  I  do  not  wash  thee.1"  Yes,  Thou 
must  wash  us  ;  for  teaching,  instructing,  and  setting 
us  an  example  is  not  'sufficient.  "  If  I  wash  thee 
not."  Certainly,  what  does  it  avail  me  if  Peter  or 
Paul  is  cleansed,  and  I  remain  defiled  ?  I  must  be 
forgiven,  and  feel  that  I  am  absolved;  and  it  re- 
mains eternally  true,  that  he  who  is  not  washed  in 
the  blood  of  Christ  has  no  part  with  Him,  nor  in  the 
blessings  of  His  kingdom. 

What  is  wont  to  happen  in  the  progress  of  the 
life  of  faith  ?  Unguarded  moments  occur,  in  which 
the  man  again  sins  in  one  way  or  other.  He  in- 
cautiously thinks,  speaks,  or  does  that  which  is 
improper,  and  is  again  guilty  of  unfaithfulness, 
although  against  his  will ;  for  only  the  devil  and  his 
seed  sin  wilfully  :  while  he  that  is  born  of  God, 
saith  the  Apostle,  cannot  sin.  The  man's  walk  is 
polluted  ;  his  feet,  with  which  he  comes  in  contact 
with  the  earth,  are  defiled.  "What  is  now  to  be 
done  ?  First,  beware  of  despondency,  by  which 
we  only  prepare  a  feast  for  Satan.  Next,  withdraw 
not  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  as  if  his  heart 


SECOND    FRIDAY.  30 

were  closed  against  us.  Thirdly,  think  not  that  it 
is  necessary  to  make  a  fresh  beginning  of  a  religious 
life.  The  seed  of  the  new  birth  remains  within  us ; 
and  the  child  of  the  family  of  God  is  not  suddenly 
turned  out  of  doors,  like  a  servant  or  a  stranger. 
"He  that  is  washed,"  says  our  Lord,  "is  clean 
every  whit :  and  ye  are  clean,  but  not  all."  Who 
does  not  now  understand  this  speech  I  Its  meaning 
is.  He  that  is  become  a  partaker  of  the  blood  of 
sprinkling,  and  of  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit — that  is, 
of  the  twofold  grace  of  absolution  from  the  guilt  of 
sin  and  of  regeneration  to  newness  of  life — is,  as 
regards  the  inmost  germ  of  his  being,  a  thoroughly 
now  man,  who  has  eternally  renounced  sin,  and 
whose  inmost  love,  desire,  and  intention  are  direct- 
ed to  God  and  things  Divine.  Where  such  a  one, 
from  weakness,  is  overtaken  by  a  fault,  he  has  no 
need  of  an  entirely  new  transformation,  but  only  of 
a  cleansing.  He  must  let  his  feet  be  washed.  Let 
this  be  duly  considered  by  those  who  are  in  a  state  of 
grace,  and  let  them  resist  the  infernal  accuser,  lest 
he  gain  an  advantage  over  them  by  his  boundless 
accusations.  Hold  up  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  as  a 
shield  against  him,  and  do  not  sutler  your  courage 
and  confidence  to  be  shaken. 


4:0  HELPS   TO    A    HOLT    LENT. 

When  penitence  has  wept  in  vain 

Over  some  foul  dark  spot, 
One  only  stream,  a  stream  of  blood, 

Can  wash  away  the  blot. 

'Tis  Jesus'  blood  that  washes  white, 

His  Hand  that  brings  relief, 
His  heart  that's  touched  with  all  our  joys, 

And  feeleth  for  our  grief. 

A  THOU  who  seest  everything!  I  have  sinned  against 
Thee  in  thought,  word,  and  deed.  Blot  out  the  hand- 
writing of  my  trespasses,  and  write  my  name  in  the  Book  of 
Life.  And  have  mercy  on  Thy  creatures,  and  on  me  a  great 
sinner ;  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.    Amen. 


Seconb  Sahtrbag. 


Ye  see  your  calling. 

Awake  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and 
Christ  shall  give  thee  light. 

See  then  that  ye  walk  circumspectly,  not  as  fools  but  as 
wise,  redeeming  the  time,  because  the  days  are  evil. 

Added  time  and  added  light  make  men  worse 
unless  they  make  them  better.  Old  sinners  are 
wickeder  than  young,  and  the  world  grows  older. 
It  is  in  the  power  of  these  last  times,  if  they  will, 
to  sin  more  guiltily,  and  to  scoff  more  blasphemous- 
ly, than  any  earlier  and  less  instructed  century 
could.  Each  period,  till  the  Lord  comes  again,  de- 
mands a  more  circumspect  obedience,  and  only 
sinks  to  a  deeper  disgrace  if  it  is  hollow  in  its  pro- 
fessions or  worldly  in  its  life. 

You  say  you  have  no  responsibility  for  these 
vast  streams  of  sin.  Is  that  true?  The  weakest 
and  youngest  among  us  is  answerable  for  a  single 
life,  to  see  that  it  is  outwardly  circumspect,  and 


42  HELPS    TO   A    HOLY    LENT. 

inwardly  grafted  into  the  life  of  the  Son  of  God. 
These  currents  of  evil  are  made  up,  every  drop, 
of  single  lives.  Let  yours  be  right  before  God, — 
then  your  family,  your  acquaintances,  all  that  you 
will  have  to  answer  for  at  the  Judgment,  will  feel 
it,  and  be  the  better  for  it.  That  is  what  St.  Paul 
means.  That  holy  life  of  yours  will  go  so  far  to 
redeem  the  time,  and  He  who  died  to  redeem  both 
you  and  the  world  will  accept  you  as  one  of  His  own. 

We  come,  then,  to  the  question,  what  ought  the 
degree  of  a  Christian's  consecration  to  be  in  the 
world  nowadays,  and  in  a  community  like  this 
where  we  live  %  How  distinct  ought  the  stamp  of 
our  Christian  calling  to  be  ?  How  far  ought  the 
Christian  man  and  the  Christian  woman  and  the 
Christian  youth  to  be  set  apart,  and  stand  alone  ? 

There  is  but  one  answer,  provided  we  seek  the 
answer  in  the  Word  of  God,  where  only  we  can 
find  one  in  which  we  can  safely  rest.  The  form 
of  the  ordinary  occupations  of  the  holy  man  and 
the  worldly  man  will  not  generally  be  very  unlike, 
because  the  necessities  of  an  outward  livelihood  are 
much  the  same,  and  it  is  not  meant  that,  in  this 
life,  God's  people  and  the  world's  should  be  out- 
wardly separated ;  that  separation  is  to  come  here- 


SECOND    SATURDAY.  43 

after.  But  at  this  point  their  common  life  and 
their  resemblance  end.  In  the  secret  affections 
that  prompt  his  spirit  and  govern  his  plans, 
his  business,  his  amusements,  his  use  of  property 
and  his  tongue,  the  disciple  of  Christ  is  to  show 
himself  called  by  a  distinct  and  peculiar  calling. 
He  is  to  stand  so  apart,  in  all  these  respects,  that 
every  observer  of  him  is  to  take  knowledge  that  he 
not  only  has  bee?i  with  Jesus,  but  that,  there  being 
two  armies  always,  he  belongs  now  to  the  one  and 
not  to  the  other.  Every  year,  as  the  confirmation 
season  comes  round,  one  and  another  of  those 
that  are  invited  to  make  their  confession  of  Christ 
before  men  excuse  themselves.  Iso  excuse  is  so  com- 
mon as  this  :  "  I  wish  I  were  a  true  Christian  ;  I 
hope  some  time  or  other  to  be  one,  and  a  consistent 
one  ;  but  I  do  not  want  to  be  another  of  those  that  I 
see  too  often,  who  say  that  they  renounce  this  world 
for  Christ,  but  alter  nothing  in  their  frivolity, 
or  their  passion  for  pleasure,  dress,  and  gain,  and 
with  whom  the  only  movement  that  distinguishes 
them  from  the  most  thoughtless  is  when  they  go, 
once  a  month,  to  take  the  Communion."  Too  great 
a  work  is  on  our  hands,  too  solemn  responsibilities 
are  pressing,  too  great  and  glorious  a  Leader  is  look- 


44  HELPS   TO   A    HOLY    LENT. 

ing  at  us  and  calling  us,  for  this  wretched  trifling, 
which  makes  the  Church  look  like  the  market  and 
the  ball-room,  only  ten  times  worse,  for  the  incon- 
sistency of  its  professions  and  the  hollowness  of 
its  prayers.  I  say  to  you,  as  an  English  layman 
says  :  "  If  your  life  were  but  a  fever-fit,  the  mad- 
ness of  a  night,  whose  follies  were  all  to  be  forgot- 
ten in  the  dawn,  it  might  matter  little  how  you 
fretted  away  the  sickly  hours ;  what  toys  you 
snatched  at,  or  let  fall ;  what  visions  you  followed 
with  the  deceived  eyes  of  your  frenzy.  Dance  if 
you  will  on  the  floor  of  hospital  wards ;  knit  the 
straw  into  what  crowns  please  you ;  gather  the  dust 
of  it  for  treasure,  clutching  at  the  black  motes  in  the 
air  with  your  dying  hands."  But  the  delirium  of 
thousands  that  live  and  die  along  these  streets  is  a 
thousand  times  sadder  than  that,  because  the  brain 
still  keeps  its  accountability,  and  judgment  is  to 
come.  Oh,  you  who  bear  the  name  of  Christians, 
baptized  and  "  chosen "  to  represent  your  Lord 
before  men,  gird  up  the  loins  of  your  mind.  It 
will  cost  self-denial.  It  will  bring  on  you  the 
wonder,  the  criticism,  the  sarcasm,  perhaps,  of  your 
social  set.  What  then  ?  For  fifteen  centuries 
Christendom  has  handed  down   with  admiration 


SECOND    SATURDAY.  45 

the  brave  word  of  one  of  the  Church's  true  priests, 
— "  Athanasius  against  the  world !  "  Why  should 
we  have  to  go  back  so  far  to  find  our  saints,  when 
there  is  the  same  opportunity,  the  same  duty,  for 
every  disciple  to  stand  against  the  social  threat 
and  flattery  that  are  all  the  world  to  him?  The 
girded  loins,  the  sober  mind,  the  unworldly  walk — 
and  the  solitude  of  spirit  if  need  be — shall  we  not 
cheerfully  meet  them,  and  resolutely  take  them  up, 
for  that  glory  that  is  to  be  revealed  ? 

'Tis  not  for  man  to  trifle :  life  is  brief, 

And  sin  is  here  : 
Our  age  is  but  the  falling  of  a  leaf, 

A  dropping  tear. 
We  have  no  time  to  sport  the  hours  away : 
We  must  be  working  while  'tis  called  to-day. 

O  day  of  time,  how  dark !     0  sky  and  earth, 

How  dull  your  hue  ! 
O  day  of  Christ,  how  bright !     O  sky  and  earth 

Made  fair  and  new  ! 
Come,  better  Eden,  with  thy  fresher  green ; 
Come,  brighter  Salem,  gladden  all  the  scene. 

A  GOD,  who  art  of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold  iniquity,  mer- 
cifully  grant  unto  us  such  a  sense  of  sin  that  we  may 
receive  cleansing,  and  such  cleansing  that  we  may  be  made 
pure  in  heart,  and  may  see  Thee  for  evermore ;  through  our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ.    Amen. 


0£con5  0un5og. 


Make  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God,  and  renew  a  right  spirit 
within  me. 

Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God. 

In  contending  against  sensual  sins,  the  main 
stress  must  be  laid  on  the  principle  of  exclusion, 
— the  absolute  keeping  away  of  bad  suggestions 
and  imagery  from  the  mind.  Once  in,  the  stain 
has  struck  on  a  substance  so  sensitive  that,  if  not 
quite  indelible,  it  is  still  terribly  tenacious  and 
terribly  prolific  of  sorrow.  It  is  here,  with  begin- 
nings, that  we  all  have  chiefly  to  do,  in  ourselves 
and  our  children.  Here,  peculiarly,  the  battle  is 
secret  and  invisible.  ITot  much  can  be  said,  and 
so  the  more  must  be  done  by  prayer  and  instan- 
taneous self-command,  expelling  the  first  contami- 
nation, and  crying :  c;  Cleanse  Thou  me  from  secret 
faults."     In  respect  to  many  sins,  self-examinatioo 


SECOND    SUNDAY.  47 

may  be  safe  and  even  necessary ;  but  there  are 
others  where  it  is  scarcely  wholesome  or  profitable. 
Simple  prevention,  avoidance,  the  shutting  of  the 
eyes  and  ears,  and  pressing  on  to  known  duty,  are 
the  best  security.  It  does  not  help  much  to  go 
back  and  trace  the  ways  of  temptation.  The  wise 
man  was  right :  "  Avoid  it ;  pass  not  by  it ;  turn 
from  it  and  pass  away."  "Lead  us  not  into 
temptation."  One  wrong  companionship  in  child- 
hood, one  unprincipled  servant  or  schoolmate,  one 
Mephistophiles  using  the  advantages  of  superior 
station  or  intellect,  may  spread  a  curse  through  the 
whole  hidden  history  of  fourscore  years.  Xext  to 
bad  companionship  is  a  bad  literature.  The  degen- 
eracy of  the  public  modesty,  in  the  reading  allowed 
without  stint  to  the  young,  is  a  direct  contradiction 
to  both  the  profession  and  the  fact  of  a  progressive 
civilization.  Books  that  are  the  products  of  a 
thoroughly  unchristian  social  life,  in  both  Europe 
and  America,  not  only  furnish  the  continual  reading 
matter  of  the  reckless  and  abandoned,  but  they  stock 
the  circulating  libraries,  and  lie  on  the  tables  of  the 
best-bred  families,  within  reach  of  young  persons 
from  whose  'bodies  and  physical  health  every  breath 
of  outward  malaria  is  warded  off  with  incessant 


48  HELPS   TO    A    HOLY    LENT. 

vigilance  and  at  every  cost.  The  harm  falls  just 
where  the  liability  to  harm  is  greatest, — on  the 
springs  of  thought,  imagination,  emotion,  where  no 
direct  effort  can  meet  it  or  detect  its  inroads. 

Best  of  all  the  protections  against  these  impuri- 
ties, however,  after  the  prayer  that  entreats,  in  all 
the  varying  utterances  of  an  intense  devotion — 
"  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God  " — is  inces- 
sant Christian  occupation,  with  abstinence  from 
those  personal  luxuries,  idlenesses,  and  pamperings 
of  the  body,  which  are  the  preparations  and  provo- 
catives of  temptation.  To  turn  swiftly  and  vigor- 
ously to  some  generous  and  righteous  errand  for 
the  Master  with  a  temperate  and  well-governed 
body,  under  a  healthful  regimen,  and  sometimes, 
perhaps,  to  make  the  body  bear  voluntary  penal- 
ties for  its  errors,  so  as  thereby  to  remind  and  regu- 
late the  soul,  but  at  any  rate  to  keep  the  thoughts 
and  energies  preoccupied,  is  the  true  mode  of 
preserving  Christian  purity,  and  even  of  restoring 
it  after  it  has  been  lost. 

We  must  not  fail  to  lift  up  our  eyes  toward  the 
Seat  of  Mercy.  "What  are  these  which  are  ar- 
rayed in  white  robes  ?  These  are  they  which 
have  washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white  in 


SECOND    SUNDAY.  49 

the  Blood  of  the  Lamb.  Therefore  are  they  before 
the  throne  of  God,"  serving  Him  face  to  face  and 
heart  to  heart  with  the  glorious  angels  that  never 
sinned,  seeing  God.  There  is  Love,  Redemption, 
Forgiveness,  and  at  last,  the  Beatific  Vision,  even 
for  sinful  hearts  like  ours. 

A  poet  of  few  poems  has  written  these  verses, 
embodying  the  encouraging  thought  that,  though 
the  unfallen  spirits  excel  in  power  and  might, 
there  is  yet  a  singular  blessedness  belonging  to 
those  children  of  the  Redemption  who  have  known, 
after  the  wretchedness  of  impurity,  the  relief  of 
repentance,  and  the  rest  of  reconciliation : 

Earth  has  one  joy  unknown  in  heaven, — 
The  new-born  peace  of  sin  forgiven. 
Tears  of  such  pure  and  deep  delight, 
Ye  angels  !  never  dimmed  your  sight ! 

Ye  saw,  of  old,  on  Chaos  rise 
The  beauteous  pillars  of  the  skies : 
Ye  know  where  morn  exulting  springs 
And  evening  folds  her  drooping  wings. 

Bright  heralds  of  the  Eternal  Will, 
Abroad  His  errands  ye  fulfil, 
Or,  throned  in  floods  of  beaming  day 
Symphonious  in  His  presence  play ; 


§0  HELPS    TO    A    HOLY    LENT. 

While  I  amid  your  choirs  shall  shine, 
And  all  your  knowledge  will  be  mine, 
Ye  on  your  harps  must  lean  to  hear 
One  secret  chord  that  mine  will  bear. 

CLEANSE  us,  0  Lord,  from  our  secret  faults,  and  mercifully 
absolve  "us  from  our  presumptuous  sins,  that  we  may  re- 
ceive Thy  holy  things  with  a  pure  mind ;  through  Christ  our 
Lord.    Amen. 


Setonb  iHon&ctg. 


h 


1  meditate  on  all  Thy  works ;  I  muse  on  the  work  of  Thy 
hands. 

O  how  love  I  Thy  law  !  it  is  my  meditation  all  the  day. 

Mary  kept  all  these  things,  and  pondered  them  in  her 
heart. 

Meditation  is  partly  passive,  partly  an  active 
state.  Whoever  lias  pondered  long  over  a  plan 
which  he  is  anxions  to  accomplish,  without  at  first 
distinctly  seeing  the  way,  knows  what  meditation 
is.  The  subject  presents  itself  in  leisure  moments 
spontaneously;  but  then  all  this  sets  the  mind  at 
work, — contriving,  imagining,  rejecting,  modify- 
ing. He  knows  what  it  is  who  has  ever  earnestly 
and  sincerely  loved  one  living  human  being.  The 
image  of  his  friend  rises  unbidden  by  day  and 
night ;  stands  before  his  soul  in  the  street  and  in 
the  field ;  comes  athwart  his  every  thought,  and 
mixes  its  presence  with  his  every  plan.     So  far  all 


52  HELPS   TO    A    HOLY    LENT. 

is  passive.  But  besides  this  he  plans  and  contrives 
for  that  other's  happiness;  tries  to  devise  what 
would  give  pleasure;  examines  his  own  conduct 
and  conversation,  to  avoid  that  which  can  by  any 
possibility  give  pain.     This  is  meditation. 

So,  too,  is  meditation  on  religious  truth  carried 
on.  If  it  first  be  loved,  it  will  recur  spontaneously 
to  the  heart.  Meditation  is  done  in  silence.  By 
it  we  renounce  our  narrow  individuality,  and  ex- 
patiate into  that  which  is  infinite.  Only  in  the 
sacredness  of  inward  silence  does  the  soul  truly 
meet  the  secret,  hiding  God.  The  strength  of  re- 
solve, which  afterward  shapes  life  and  mixes  itself 
with  action,  is  the  fruit  of  those  sacred,  solitary 
moments.  There  is  a  Divine  depth  in  silence. 
We  meet  God  alone.  Have  we  never  felt  how 
a  human  presence,  if  frivolous,  in  such  moments 
frivolizes  the  soul,  and  how  impossible  it  is  to 
come  in  contact  with  any  thoughts  that  are  sub- 
lime, or  drink  in  one  inspiration  from  heaven, 
without  degrading  it,  even  though  surrounded  by 
all  that  would  naturally  suggest  tender  and  awful 
feelings,  when  such  are  by  ?  It  is  not  the  number 
of  books  you  read;  nor  the  variety  of  sermons 
which  you  hear ;  nor  the  amount  of  religious  con- 


SECOND   MONDAY.  53 

versation  in  which  you  mix  :  but  it  is  the  frequency 
and  the  earnestness  with  which  you  meditate  on 
these  things,  till  the  truth  which  may  be  in  them 
becomes  your  own,  and  part  of  your  own  being, 
that  ensures  your  spiritual  growth. 

The  thought  of  God,  the  thought  of  Thee, 

Who  liest  in  my  heart, 
And  yet  beyond  imagined  space 

Outstretched  and  present  art, — 
The  thought  of  Thee,  above,  below, 

Around  me  and  within, 
Is  more  to  me  than  health  and  wealth, 
Or  love  of  kith  and  kin. 

BE  favorable  to  us,  0  Lord  !  and  increase  in  our  hearts  the 
feelings  of  piety,  and  devotion  with  which  Thou  hast 
inspired  us ;  and  for  fear  that  the  inconstancy  and  cowardice 
so  natural  to  us  may  chill  our  fervor,  mercifully  grant  us  the 
aid  we  need  to  conquer  all  that  is  in  opposition  to  our  love  for 
Thee,  and  to  serve  Thee  with  all  the  fidelity  we  owe  Thee, 
never  relaxing  in  our  duty  to  Thee.  We  beg  this  through 
the  merits  and  mediations  of  Jesus  Christ  Thy  Son  our  Lord, 
Amen. 


y(p  _ — 

Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man 
his  thoughts  :  and  let  him  return  unto  the  Lord,  and  He  will 
have  mercy  upon  him  ;  and  to  our  God,  for  He  will  abundantly 
pardon. 

Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish. 

Very  seriously,  very  severely,  does  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  deal  with  the  sins  of  His  people.  He 
suffers  no  man  to  make  light  of  sin.  If  His  Word, 
if  conscience,  if  the  Spirit's  striving,  suffices  not,  then 
a  sterner  discipline  begins  to  chasten, — pain  and 
loss  and  shame  and  punishment ;  perhaps  at  last  a 
blighted  name,  ruined  prospects,  deposition  from 
service,  deprivation  of  usefulness, — anything  rather 
than  that  the  soul  should  be  lost ;  anything  rather 
than  that  the  man  should  sleep  the  sleep  of  death. 
These  things  are  the  reproofs  of  Christ :  As  many 
as  I  love,  He  says,  I  rebuke  and  chasten.  Gospel 
regrets  are  reparations  too. 

But  language  is  sometimes  used  as  to  the  conse- 


SECOND   TUESDAY.  55 

quences  of  sin,  which  seems  calculated  rather  to 
depress  than  to  stimulate  the  energies  of  true  re- 
pentance. A  young  man  is  told,  for  example,  that 
the  consequences  of  one  evil  thought  are  essentially 
interminable ;  that  each  particular  word  carries  an 
influence  with  it  never  to  be  checked  and  nowhere 
to  be  bounded  ;  that  the  smallest  omission  of  duty, 
much  more  the  smallest  act  of  transgression,  not 
only  has  in  it  a  condemning  sentence,  but  also  exer- 
cises (whatever  he  may  be  afterward)  an  absolutely 
illimitable  and  everlasting  force.  And  there  is  a 
truth  in  such  representations.  The  consequences  of 
sin  are  incalculable.  The  transgressor  himself  has 
no  power  to  say  to  his  own  evil :  Thus  far  shalt 
thou  go,  and  no  further.  The  thing  done  or  the 
thing  left  undone — the  word  spoken  or  the  thought 
cherished — is  out  of  his  hand :  he  cannot  revoke 
and  he  cannot  regulate  it.  This  is  true.  But  such 
representations,  left  alone,  can  but  make  man  reck- 
less. I  have  more  faith  in  the  opposite  truth.  The 
long  suffering  of  Jesus  Christ  not  only  reproves 
but  will  in  part  repair  also  :  as  with  every  tempta- 
tion God  will  also  make  a  way  to  escape,  so  (in 
some  sense)  beside  every  sin  He  sets  a  repentance 
and  a  reDaration. 


56  HELPS   TO   A    HOLY    LENT. 

I  know  not,  on  this  side  the  grave,  the  spot  from 
which  repentance,  naj,  from  which  reparation,  is 
excluded.  Repentance  is  reparation.  The  man 
who,  far  on  in  life's  journey,  has  sinned  and  fallen, 
makes  reparation  toward  man  if  he  repents  toward 
God.  The  servant  of  God,  who  has  been  ensnared 
of  evil, — who  has  even  brought  shame  upon  his 
name,  and  reproach  upon  his  Church, — yet  even 
he,  if  he  returns  and  repents  ;  even  he,  if  he  walks 
humbly  and  mournfully  for  his  remaining  days  be- 
fore God  ;  even  he,  if  he  accepts  with  unmurmur- 
ing submission  that  sentence  of  comparative  use- 
lessness  which  is  the  worst  part  of  sin,  and  is  willing 
to  stoop  to  humble  work,  and  to  be  but  a  hewer  of 
wood  and  drawer  of  water  for  that  tabernacle  in 
which  perhaps  once  he  stood  a  priest  ministering  ; 
even  he,  if  he  comes  back — it  is  no  imaginary  pict- 
ure— just  to  die  amongst  his  people,  making  no 
secret  of  his  grief  and  of  his  repentance,  and  read- 
ily offering  up  the  remnant  of  a  shortened  life  upon 
the  sacrifice  and  service  of  a  penitent  restitution ; 
even  that  man  has  upon  him  the  mark  of  forgive- 
ness, is  clad  again  with  the  white  garments  of  a 
second  absolution,  and  when  he  goes  hence,  to  be 
no  more  seen  of  the  sinful,  shall  enter,  washed  and 


SECOND    TUESDAY.  57 

justified,  within  the  innermost  veil,  to  be  forever 
a  king  and  a  priest  in  that  sanctuary  where  sin  is 
not.  That  in  me  first  Jesus  Christ  might  show 
forth  all  longsuffering ! 


lSJ 


A  broken  heart,  0  God,  iny  King, 

Is  all  the  sacrifice  we  bring  : 
Thou,  God  of  grace,  wilt  not  despise 

A  broken  heart  in  sacrifice. 

OGOD  of  compassion,  God  of  pity,  God  who,  according  to  the 
multitude  of  Thy  great  mercies,  washest  away  the  sins 
of  the  penitent,  and  by  the  grace  of  remission  doest  away  the 
guilt  of  past  offences  ;  look  graciously  upon  Thy  servants,  and 
hearken  unto  them  entreating  for  the  forgiveness  of  all  their 
sins  ;  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.    Amen. 


n 


q  —  {jlflf 


Then  saitli  He  unto  them,  My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrow- 
ful, even  unto  death  :  tarry  ye  here,  and  watch  with  Me.  And 
He  went  a  little  farther,  and  fell  on  His  face,  and  prayed,  say- 
ing, O  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  Me  : 
nevertheless  not  as  I  will,  but  as  Thou  wilt.  And  He  went  away 
again  the  second  time,  and  prayed,  saying,  0  my  Father,  if 
this  cup  may  not  pass  away  from  Me,  except  I  drink  it,  Thy 
will  be  done.  And  He  left  them,  and  went  away  again,  and 
prayed  the  third  time,  saying  the  same  words. 

There  is  very  often  some  one  special  darling 
evil  thing  aronnd  which  the  will  is  found  to  wind 
and  fasten  itself  with  passionate  clinging.  It  does 
not  say  aloud,  but  it  would  if  it  were  frank,  "  This 
I  cannot  give  up ;  this  I  must  have."  Of  course 
the  object  is  different  with  each  of  us ;  but  the  sin 
is  the  same.  It  caunot  be  safe  to  live  with  such  a 
reservation  as  that.  That  soul  offends  in  the  one 
point,  but  breaks  the  unity  of  the  whole  law,  and  this 


THIRD    WEDNESDAY.  59 

makes  it  "  guilty  ©f  all."  It  is  setting  up  an  idol  in 
our  hearts  ;  and  then  we  may  be  sure  God  sets  Him- 
self, not  in  any  arbitrary  way,  not  in  jealousy  of  our 
joy,  but  in  the  very  love  wherewith  He  loves  us, 
and  that  He  may  give  us  all  heaven  at  last,  to  take 
the  idol  out.  "We  yield,  unwillingly  perhaps,  at 
first,  though  in  that  case  the  pain  will  only  be  so 
much  the  greater.  But  by  all  means,  at  any  rate, 
by  ways  that  we  had  not  known,  by  dealings 
that  perplex  and  confound  us,  He  begins  to  loosen 
the  fatal  fascination  and  take  it  away. 

The  Infinite,  who  sees  us  thus 

Mould  His  transcendent  form  in  clay, 

Shatters  the  idol  into  dust, 
And  we,  alas  !  must  weep  and  pray. 

But  first,  in  His  tenderness,  He  always  calls  to  us 
by  voices  of  prophets,  by  mercies,  sermons,  prophe- 
cies, providences, — "  Give  Me  thine  heart."  It  is 
not  to  be  concealed  that,  in  this  final  surrender,  as 
in  all  the  others,  from  the  first  glowing  hour  of  a 
new-born  affection  for  the  Lord,  the  heart  led  the 
way  toward  the  foot  of  the  Cross.  But  the  will, 
too,  bears  a  part,  consenting  and  helping,  as  it  were, 
by  solemn  purposes  and  exertions,  to  bend  itself  to 


60  HELPS    TO    A    HOLY    LENT. 

the  will  of  God,  with  renunciation  and  submission. 
Only,  it  must  be  remembered,  here  comes  in  that 
new  and  really  supernatural  gift  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  which  makes  this  act  of  the  will  different  from 
every  other.  ~No  man  can  tell  exactly  where  the 
line  runs  that  divides  man's  part  from  God's  in 
spiritual  renewing  and  growth.  But  this  we  know, 
for  God  and  our  hearts  both  tell  it  to  us,  that  "  God 
worketh  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do,"  and  yet  it  is 
not  till  we  both  "  will "  and  "  do,"  that  the  blessed 
work  is  done.  Perhaps  the  truth  is  best  expressed 
by  saying  that  we  will  to  lean  ourselves  on  God,  and 
be  thus  upheld.  A  traveller  of  no  great  strength 
undertakes  to  climb  Mount  Washington.  He  comes 
presently  to  the  end  of  his  power  and  his  breath, 
and  sinks  down  exhausted ;  but  he  does  not  de- 
spair. A  stronger  friend  comes  to  his  side,  but 
instead  of  stirring  him  up  and  compelling  him  to  a 
fruitless  struggle,  or  urging  him  on,  offers  to  let 
him  lean  on  his  arm.  Here  is  a  new  opportunity 
for  the  exercise  of  the  traveller's  will.  He  is  not 
passive;  he  wills  to  lean  and  be  helped,  and  at 
the  same  time  he  wills  to  use  all  the  power  he 
has.  And  so  he  comes  to  the  top,  with  nothing 
above  him  but  the  heavens. 


THIRD   WEDNESDAY.  61 

The  submission  that  makes  no  merit  of  its  cross ; 
that  does  not  venture  to  choose  one  lighter  than 
the  Lord  lays  on  us ;  that  does  not  seek  the  ability 
to  bear  it  in  the  delirium  of  pleasure,  or  the  drugs 
of  the  world,  or  the  deadening  influence  of  time 
and  change  ;  that  does  not  compare  your  cross  with 
those  borne  by  others,  or  ask  an  explanation  of  it 
till  the  day  break  and  the  shadows  nee  away,  but 
bears  it  all  with  a  child's  love  for  His  sake  who  did 
not  impose  it  till  He  had  borne  all  the  might  and 
sharpness  of  all  the  world's  crosses  together, — this  is 
the  victory.  The  earth  has  no  fatal  fear  and  no 
insupportable  sorrow  in  it  after  you  have  come  to 
this ;  you  are  free  in  a  boundless  liberty,  strong  in 
immortal  strength,  and  at  peace  in  a  peace  too  deep 
for  the  understanding  to  explain,  or  any  sufferings 
to  disturb. 

Full  many  a  throb  of  grief  and  pain 
Thy  frail  and  erring  child  must  know  ; 

But  not  one  prayer  is  breathed  in  vain, 
Nor  does  one  tear  unheeded  flow. 

Thy  various  messengers  employ  ; 

Thy  purposes  of  love  fulfil ; 
And  'mid  the  wreck  of  human  joy, 

Let  kneeling  faith  adore  Thy  will. 


62  HELPS   TO    A   HOLY   LENT. 

OMOST  merciful  Lord,  who  healest  the  inward  man  by  out- 
ward afflictions,  and  by  troubles  in  this  world  dost  pre- 
pare us  for  eternal  joys  in  the  world  to  come  ;  by  that  cup  of 
sorrow  which  Thou  drankest  for  us,  and  by  that  weary  path 
which  Thou  troddest,  grant  that  we  may  willingly  drink  of 
Thy  cup,  and  cheerfully  follow  Thee  along  the  road  where 
Thou  hast  gone  before ;  who  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  reignest  one  God,  world  without  end.    Amen. 


a* 

Mary  liatli  chosen  that  good  part,  which  shall  not  be  taken 
away  from  her. 

O  tarry  thou  the  Lord's  leisure  ;  be  strong,  and  He  shall  com- 
fort thine  heart ;  and  put  thou  thy  trust  in  the  Lord. 

Let  us  excite  each  other  to  seek  that  good  part 
which  shall  not  be  taken  away  from  us.  Let  us 
labor  to  be  really  in  earnest,  and  to  view  things  in 
the  way  in  which  God  views  them.  Then  it  will  be 
but  a  little  thing  to  give  up  the  world  ;  but  an  easy 
thing  to  reconcile  the  mind  to  what  at  first  it  shrinks 
from.  Let  us  turn  our  mind  heavenward;  let  us 
set  our  thoughts  on  things  above,  and  in  His  own 
time  God  will  set  our  affections  there  also.  All  will 
in  time  become  natural  to  us,  which  at  present  we 
do  but  own  to  be  good  and  true.  We  shall  covet 
what  at  present  we  do  but  admire.  Let  the  time 
past  suffice  us  to  have  followed  our  own  will ;  let 
us  desire  to  form  part  of  that  glorious  company  of 
Apostles  and  Prophets,  of  whom  we  read  in  Script- 


64  HELPS   TO    A    HOLY    LENT. 

lire.  Let  us  cast  in  our  lot  with  them,  and  desire  to 
be  gathered  about  their  feet.  Let  us  beg  of  God  to 
employ  us ;  let  us  try  to  obtain  a  spirit  of  perfect 
self-surrender  to  Him,  and  an  indifference  to  one 
thing  above  another  in  this  world,  so  that  we  may 
be  ready  to  follow  His  call  whenever  it  comes  to  us. 
Thus  shall  we  best  employ  ourselves  till  His  voice 
is  heard,  patiently  preparing  for  it  by  meditation, 
and  by  looking  for  Him  to  perfect  what,  we  trust, 
His  own  grace  has  begun  in  us. 

There  are  many  persons  who  proceed  a  little  way 
in  religion,  and  then  stop  short.  God  keep  us  from 
choking  the  good  seed,  which  else  would  come  to 
perfection  !  Let  us  exercise  ourselves  in  those  good 
works  which  both  reverse  the  evil  that  is  past,  and 
lay  up  a  good  foundation  for  us  in  the  world  to 
come. 

He  liveth  long  who  liveth  well ! 

All  other  life  is  short  and  vain  ; 
He  liveth  longest  who  can  tell 

Of  living  most  for  heavenly  gain. 

He  liveth  long  who  liveth  well  1 

All  else  is  being  flung  away  ; 
He  liveth  longest  who  can  tell 

Of  true  things  truly  done  each  day. 


THIRD    THURSDAY.  65 

OLORD  Jesus  Christ,  who  hast  said,  My  Father  worketh 
hitherto,  and  I  work  ;  grant  us,  we  beseech  Thee,  such 
zeal  in  Thy  service,  that  we  may  never  be  weary  in  well 
doing,  but  may  labor  steadfastly  unto  the  end  through  Thy 
mercy.    Amen. 

5 


<EI)ir&  Jrifcctg. 


Christ  Jesus,  whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation 
through  faith  in  His  Blood. 

I,  even  I,  am  He  that  blotteth  out  thy  transgressions  for 
Mine  own  sake,  and  will  not  remember  thy  sins. 

God  is  Love ;  the  assertion,  to  our  exceeding 
comfort,  is  twice  solemnly  made  in  Holy  Scripture. 
Nothing  can  exceed  the  tenderness  of  the  tie  which 
binds  Him  to  every  one  of  His  rational  creatures, 
who  are  His  spiritual  offspring ;  no  affection  or 
sympathy,  of  which  human  life  gives  us  experience, 
can  at  all  adequately  express  to  us  the  yearning, 
self-sacrificing  devotion  which  the  Father  of  spirits 
entertains  toward  all  the  souls  He  has  created, 
however  far  they  may  have  wandered  from  Him 
into  the  mazes  of  sin  and  error.  The  Atonement 
was  effected  by  a  Person  in  the  Godhead,  and  has 
all  the  incalculable  value  which  such  an  agency 
can  give  it.  He  took  human  nature  into  conjunc- 
tion with  His  divine  nature,  and  thus  atoned  (or 
reconciled)  God  and  man,  as  the  first  step  in  His 


THIRD   FRIDAY.  67 

gigantic  enterprise.  In  the  creature-nature  which 
it  pleased  Him  to  assume,  He  offered  to  the  Father 
a  perfectly  holy  and  devoted  human  life,  a  life  of 
perfect  and  intense  love  and  purity,  and  therefore 
infinitely  acceptable  to  Him,  who  is  Love  and 
Purity.  But  in  doing  so,  He  entangled  Himself  in 
the  rancorous  hostility  and  persecution  of  those 
He  came  to  save ;  and  thus  furnished  an  evidence, 
not  only  of  God's  willingness  to  save  them,  but  of 
their  utter  alienation  from  God.  And,  as  He 
thoroughly  identified  Himself  with  our  nature,  He 
entangled  Himself  also  in  all  the  distressing  conse- 
quences of  our  sin, — hardship,  pain,  bereavement, 
death ;  and — what  was  to  Him  more  distressing; 
than  all— the  clouding  over  of  the  soul,  by  the 
withdrawal  from  it  of  that  sense  of  Divine  favor 
which  is  its  sunlight.  But  the  crush  and  pressure 
of  these  awful  trials  only  brought  out  the  perfume 
of  His  graces.  He  was  full  of  love  still,  even  when 
stretched  in  agony  upon  the  Cross,  of  forgiving 
love,  restoring  love,  sympathizing  love,  to  man ;  of 
acquiescing,  resigned,  confiding  love  toward  God. 
"Father,  forgive  them;"  "Father,  remove  this 
cup  from  me ;  nevertheless  not  as  I  will,  but  as 
Thou  wilt ;  "  "  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend 


68  HELPS   TO   A    HOLY   LENT. 

my  spirit," — these  were  the  dominant  chords  of 
His  state  of  mind,  in  the  course  of  a  trial  the  sever- 
ity of  which  none  but  Himself  and  God  could  ap- 
preciate. Now,  surely  it  is  not  hard  to  understand 
that  such  a  life  and  such  a  death  must  have  been 
supremely  acceptable  to  God,  and,  being  rendered 
by  One  who  took  our  common  nature  upon  Him, 
and  appeared  as  our  Representative,  must  have 
entirely  met  and  discharged  what  I  may  call  the 
demands  of  God's  perfect  holiness  in  the  accept- 
ance of  sinners. 

Though  long  the  weary  way  we  tread, 
And  sorrows  crown  each  lingering  year, 

No  path  we  shun,  no  darkness  dread, 

Our  hearts  still  whispering,  Thou  art  near ! 

On  Thee  we  fling  our  burdened  woe, 
.    O  Love  Divine !  for  ever  dear ; 
Content  to  suffer  while  we  know, 
Living  and  dying,  Thou  art  near ! 

OGOD,  who  of  Thy  great  love  to  this  world  didst  reconcile 
earth  to  heaven  through  Thine  only-begotten  Son,  grant 
that  we  who,  by  the  darkness  of  our  sins,  are  turned  aside 
from  brotherly  love,  may  by  Thy  light  shed  forth  in  our  souls 
be  filled  with  Thine  own  sweetness,  and  embrace  our  friends 
in  Thee,  and  our  enemies  for  Thy  sake,  in  a  bond  of  mutual 
affection  ;  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour.     Amen. 


<El)tr&  0aturbag. 


It  is  a  good  tiling  to  show  forth  thy  faithfulness  every 
night.     Where  is  God  my  Maker,  who  giveth  songs  in  the 
night  ? 
By  His  light  I  walked  through  darkness. 

St.  Athanasius  observes  that,  from  the  creation 
of  the  world  until  Christ,  the  day  preceded  the 
night,  as  we  read  in  Scripture ;  but  from  the  com- 
ing of  Christ,  the  night  precedes  the  day ;  and 
thus  we  begin  to  celebrate  the  day  solemnly  from 
the  evening  of  the  preceding  day.  This  was  typi- 
cal to  show  how  from  light  men  were  to  decline  to 
darkness,  from  God  to  errors  and  idolatry ;  but 
from  the  time  that  the  Sun  of  Justice — Christ — rose 
upon  us,  we  are  brought  out  of  darkness  into  the 
light  of  Divine  faith.  Anna,  the  widow,  departed 
not  from  the  temple  day  and  night ;  the  holy 
shepherds,  too,  were  keeping  watch  when  they 
beheld  the  vision  of  angels  in  the  sky ;  and  the 
Saviour  himself  repeatedly  reminds  us  of  the  need 


70  HELPS    TO    A    HOLY    LENT. 

of  watching  by  night,  and  taught  its  by  His  exam- 
ple, and  admonished  Peter  in  the  time  of  the 
Passion:  "  Couldst  thou  not  watch  one  hour?" 
Know,  therefore,  that  vigils  are  agreeable  to  God. 

Nothing  is  constant  with  men.  Everything 
revolves  and  perishes.  Alas  !  we  proposed  to  per- 
form great  things  when  the  sun  was  mounted  to 
the  meridian,  and  lo !  in  a  short  time,  it  descends 
to  evening.  The  day  is  become  old,  the  night  is 
approaching ;  such  is  the  frailty  of  this  mortal  life. 
How  soon  the  day  declines,  the  heat  cools,  the  light 
sinks  and  is  buried  in  the  shade  of  evening ;  but 
we  must  run  our  course  until  we  shall  behold  the 
Lord  of  lords  in  Sion. 

It  is  the  vesper  hour.  What  a  symbol  is  here ! 
Let  us  say,  therefore,  with  the  disciples,  whose 
hearts  burned  within  them  by  the  way :  "  Abide 
with  us,  for  it  is  toward  evening."  Now  evening, 
the  mother  of  night,  will  bring  forth  darkness ; 
now  sadness  oppresses  us,  and  despair  sinks.  The 
waters  have  come  even  unto  our  soul ;  the  cold  of 
iniquity  freezes  us,  and  a  wounded  conscience 
dreads  the  terrible  sentence  of  the  Judge.  Abide 
with  us,  O  most  clement  Lord,  since  without  Thee 
we  can  do  nothing;  we  are  nothing!     Thou  art 


THIRD    SATURDAY.  71 

our  consolation,  Thou  art  our  refuge  and  strength  ; 
Thou  art  a  tower  of  might  against  the  face  of  our 
enemies.  The  night  of  wickedness  covers  all 
things ;  the  light  of  truth  faileth ;  depravity 
abounds ;  charity  grows  cold ;  our  eyes  are  turned 
to  Thee,  that  we  may  not  perish.  Abide  with  us, 
that  the  darkness  may  not  come  upon  us,  and  that 
the  shining  light  which  shineth  to  us  in  that  dark 
place  may  not  be  extinguished  in  the  night.  The 
end  of  life  is  near  ;  the  evening  of  our  day  ;  deliver 
us  from  the  power  of  darkness,  and  turn  not  in 
anger  from  Thy  servants  ;  because  if  Thou  art  with 
us,  we  shall  fear  no  evil  in  the  midst  of  the  shadow 
of  death,  but  with  the  brightness  of  Thy  grace  we 
shall  be  enlightened  in  that  region  of  the  dead. 
It  is  good  to  be  with  Thee,  O  Jesus.  Abide  with 
us,  and  turn  not  away  from  us.  The  darkest  night 
draws  on,  in  which  no  man  can  work.  Abide  with 
us,  and  close  the  door  upon  us,  until  the  darkness 
shall  pass  over,  and  light  again  rise  to  visit  us. 

Lead  kindly  Light,  amid  the  encircling  gloom, 

Lead  Thou  me  on ; 
The  night  is  dark,  and  I  am  far  from  home, 

Lead  Thou  me  on  ; 
Keep  Thou  my  feet,  I  do  not  ask  to  see 
The  distant  scene  ;  one  step  enough  for  me. 


72  HELPS    TO    A    HOLT   LENT. 

LIGHTEN  our  darkness,  we  beseech  Thee  O  Lord ;  and  by 
Thy  great  mercy  defend  us  from  all  perils  and  dangers 
of  .this  night  for  the  love  of  Thy  only  Son  our  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ.    Amen. 


3U)ir5  0un5og. 


Above  all  things  have  fervent  charity  among  yourselves. 
The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us. 
Ye  yourselves  are  taught  of  God  to  love  one  another. 
This  is  my  commandment,  That  ye  love  one  another,  as  I 
have  loved  you. 

Christ  does  not  say  that  all  persons  are  to  be 
loved  by  us  alike, — with  equal  degrees  of  personal 
interest  and  attachment;  for  He  never  asks  what 
cannot  be.  But  that  kind  of  love  which  springs 
from  our  being  all  one  in  Him  whose  boundless 
love  embraces  all  for  the  sake  of  redeeming  them 
unto  eternal  blessedness  and  gladness,  unworthy  as 
they  are, — this  is  possible  for  us  toward  every  child 
of  God;  the  unsightliest,  the  most  disagreeable, 
the  least  lovely,  the  worst.  We  cannot  reverse  the 
inwrought  laws  of  taste,  attraction,  preference,  com- 
mon culture  and  common  life,  which  group  and  dis- 
tribute men.  But  we  can  merge  them  all  in  that 
one  common  charity  which,  in  the  Redeemer  him- 


74  HELPS    TO    A    HOLT    LENT. 

self,  was  large  enough  to  reach  and  gather  up 
the  vilest,  and  which  in  His  true  followers  can  see 
in  every  human  creature  this  trace  of  nobleness  and 
beauty — the  capacity  of  being  by  repentance  and 
faith  raised  to  heavenly  places — of  wearing  the  like- 
ness and  the  righteousness  of  the  Lord  forever  and 
forever.  In  other  words,  all  can  be  loved  in  Him, 
and  will  be  by  those  that  have  their  life  in  Him. 
And  we  must  not  be  too  fastidious  about  people 
forsaking  their  ugliness  and  correcting  their  faults, 
before  our  charity  goes  out  to  them.  Suppose  a 
moment  the  grace  of  God  had  been  measured  to 
us  by  that  thrifty  rule. 

Look  long  at  Jesus  ;  His  sweet  blood, 
How  was  it  dealt  to  thee  ! 

A  child  asked :  "  When  God  blots  out  the  sins 
on  our  souls,  are  the  blots  left  ? "  So  no  material 
image  suffices  to  display  the  marvellous  condescen- 
sion and  grace  of  God's  charity  in  His  Son.  But 
this  we  know, — He  does  not  look  at  the  blots. 
The  figure  is  but  of  robes,  and  they  are  washed 
and  made  white  in  the  blood  of  our  justification  and 
pardon.  How  true  it  is,  then,  that  the  grace  of 
charity,  like  all  other  graces,  has  its  roots  in  the  one 


THIRD    SUNDAY.  75 

common  ground  of  Christ's  own  spiritual  life ;  that 
all  the  branches  through  one  living  trunk  unite 
there. 

I  in  your  care  my  brethren  left, 
Not  willing  ye  should  be  bereft 

Of  waiting  on  your  Lord. 
The  meanest  offering  ye  can  make — 
A  drop  of  water — for  love's  sake, 

In  heaven,  be  sure,  is  stored. 

0  CHRIST  Thou  living  fire,  kindle  within  me  the  fire  of 
Thy  love,  which  Thou  didst  shed  abroad  in  the  earth ; 
that  it  may  remove  all  vice  from  my  soul ;  that  it  may  purify 
my  conscience  from  remorse  ;  that  it  may  cleanse  my  body 
from  all  sin  ;  and  that  it  may  kindle  the  light  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  Thee  in  my  heart,  for  thine  own  dear  sake.    A  men. 


<tl)ir&  Jtton&cta. 


-A% 


Not  as  though  I  had  already  attained,  either  were  already 
perfect. 

This  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting  those  things  which  are  be- 
hind, and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which  are  before, 
I  press  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of 
God  in  Christ  Jesus. 

There  is  an  oblivion  of  the  irreparable  which  is 
at  once  true  and  salutary.  The  past  is.  No  re- 
grets, no  tears,  no  repentances,  can  make  it  undone. 
Then  accept  it,  recognize  it,  start  from  it.  Do  not 
expect  to  be  that  which  your  individual  history 
forbids  that  you  should  be.  God  sees  you  as  you 
are  ;  see  yourself  so.  God  knows  by  what  gradual 
steps  of  sin  you  have  fallen  to  this  estate ;  God 
knows  by  what  gradual  steps  of  repentance  you 
have  risen  to  this.  Such  as  you  are,  be  such, — such 
when  you  kneel  before  your  God, — such  when 
you  go  abroad  among  men  !  Forget  the  things 
behind.  That  which  you  cannot  be,  by  reason  of 
your  sin,  dismiss  it.     That  which  you  cannot  be, 


THIRD   MONDAY.  77 

by  reason  of  jour  sin,  forget  it.  If  there  is  some- 
thing which  you  cannot  be,  there  is  something  also 
which  you  can  be.  If  you  cannot  be  a  saint,  you 
may  be  a  penitent ;  if  you  cannot  sit  on  the  right 
hand  or  sit  on  the  left,  at  least  you  may  yet  be  a 
hired  servant;  at  least  you  may  be  yet  a  door- 
keeper in  the  House  of  your  God.  Eest  there,  and 
be  thankful.  Merely  to  dwell  among  the  thoughts 
of  what  might  have  been  is  unreal,  and  therefore 
unprofitable.  Learn,  secondly,  and  on  the  other 
hand,  the  oblivion  of  the  attained.  That  is  it  of 
which  St.  Paul  speaks.  He  counts  not  himself  to 
have  apprehended  ;  in  that  sense  chiefly  he  forgets 
the  things  behind.  The  experience  of  life  makes 
us  almost  weary  of  the  records  of  Christian  expe- 
rience as  now  received.  If  I  had  my  choice — a 
man  is  tempted  to  say — I  would  dwell  rather  with 
the  irreligious.  There  at  least  I  shall  find  reality  ; 
I  shall  find  naturalness;  I  shall  find  humility. 
There  we  hear  nothing  about  "  humble  instru- 
ments," nor  about  being  privileged  to  do  a  work  for 
God.  There  are  no  publications  of  the  triumphs  of 
self-sacrifice,  nor  of  the  wonderful  achievements 
wrought  by  the  first  appearance,  in  the  home  of 
the  ungodly,   of   the    saintly  man    or  the   gifted 


78  HELPS    TO   A    HOLY   LENT. 

woman.  All!  how  different  was  it  in  the  first 
days!  Where  in  St.  Paul's  Epistles  do  we  find 
anything  which  offends  thus  the  palate  of  taste,  or 
thus  grates  upon  the  ear  of  modesty  %  There,  on 
the  contrary,  we  find  an  utter  self-forgetfulness,  a 
remembrance  honestly  made  of  sins,  and  a  hearty 
sense  that  Christ  is  all,  and  that  whatever  is,  is  of 
Him.  We  have  got  the  words,  and  too  much  of 
them ;  but  we  have  lost  the  feeling  and  the  thing 
signified.  The  minister  of  Christ  must  tell  his 
triumphs  on  the  platform ;  and  the  woman  who 
may  not  preach  Christ  in  churches  must  preach 
herself  through  the  medium  of  the  narrative,  the 
memoir,  or  the  autobiography. 

Forget,  St.  Paul  says,  the  things  behind.  If 
God  has  enabled  you  to  win  back  your  own  soul 
from  evil, — or  to  save  a  brother's  soul  from  death, 
— thank  Him  for  it,  and  then  forget  it.  If  you, 
who  were  once  the  slave  of  sin,  hav^  become 
through  Divine  grace  able  to  see  and  to  follow  the 
light  of  life  and  of  immortality,  stay  not  to  reflect 
upon  it ;  press  on,  linger  not,  that  yon  may  not 
only  enjoy  the  foretaste,  but  also  win  the  crown. 
When  St.  Paul  forgot  the  things  behind,  think 
what  there  was  in  it.     He  had  seen  Jesus  Christ, 


THIRD   MONDAY.  79 

and  received  from  His  own  lips  the  Apostolic  mis- 
sion. He  had  left  all,  and  followed  Him.  He  had 
demolished  by  a  stroke  the  whole  fabric  of  an  al- 
most completed  self-righteousness,  and  set  out 
quite  afresh  in  a  race  of  self-denial,  self-sacrifice, 
and  self-crucifixion.  And  yet  he  forgot  all  this. 
"What  have  we  to  forget  ?  Where,  in  our  case,  is 
the  edifice  of  the  natural  virtue  ?  "Where,  in  our 
case,  is  the  achievement  of  the  spiritual  grace  ?  If 
it  be  there,  it  is  to  be  forgotten ;  if  it  be  not  there, 
who  shall  measure  the  depth  of  the  just,  the  Chris- 
tian self-abasement  ? 

No  longer  forward  nor  behind 

I  look  in  hope  and  fear ; 
But,  grateful,  take  the  good  I  find, 

The  best  of  now  and  here. 

Enough  that  blessings  undeserved 
Have  marked  my  erring  track — 

That  wheresoe'er  my  feet  have  swerved, 
His  chastening  turned  me  back. 

OGOD,  who  bestowest  this  upon  us  by  Thy  grace,  that  we 
should  be  made  righteous  instead  of  ungodly,  blessed  in- 
stead of  miserable  ;  be  present  to  Thine  own  works,  be  present 
to  Thine  own  gifts  ;  that  they  in  whom  dwells  a  justifying 
faith  may  not  lack  a  strong  perseverance,  through  Jesu? 
Christ  our  Lord.    Amen. 


®l)irb  Staesbag. 


b%b 


In  that  He  suffered  being  tempted,  He  is  able  to  succor 
them  that  are  tempted. 

For  we  have  not  an  high-priest  which  cannot  be  touched 
with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities  ;  but  was  in  all  points 
tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin.  Let  us  therefore 
come  boldly  to  the  throne  of  grace,  that  we  may  obtain  mercy, 
and  find  grace  to  help  in  time  of  need. 

I  suppose  no  truth  can  be  dearer  to  a  human 
heart  than  these  two, — the  sympathy  of  the  Son  of 
Man  in  temptation,  the  victory  of  humanity  in  the 
Son  of  Man  over  evil.  For  we  are  so  tried  and 
tossed,  so  compassed  around  with  pain,  so  much  ap- 
parently the  sport  of  fanciful  passion,  so  curiously 
framed  as  it  were  for  temptation,  with  high  aspira- 
tions living  in  us  along  with  base  desires ;  so 
hovering  ever  on  the  verge  of  good  and  ill,  and  so 
weak  to  choose  the  good  ;  so  troubled  by  the  neces- 
sity of  battle  when  our  heart  is  weary  with  the 
passionate  longing  for  rest;  so  sick  of  ourselves 
and  of  the  vile  cravings  which  at  times  possess  us, 
- — that  God  knows  we   do  want  some   sympathy 


THIRD   TUESDAY.  81 

higher  than  any  one  on  earth  can  give  us, — some 
sympathy  which  will  not  weaken  but  strengthen  ; 
some  certainty  that  the  Eternal  Love  and  Right- 
eousness can  feel  with  us  and  assist  us.  Therefore 
it  is  the  deepest  blessedness  to  know  that  One  who 
shared  in  our  nature — the  proper  Divine  Man — 
was  in  the  days  of  His  flesh  a  partaker  of  "  our 
strong  crying  and  tears,"  and  "  learned  obedience 
by  the  things  which  Pie  suffered,"  for  then  we 
know  that  He  can,  in  His  triumphant  nature,  be 
still  "  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities." 
Brethren,  who  are  struggling  with  evil  within  you 
and  without,  you  have  with  you  the  exalting 
power-bestowing  sympathy  of  the  Son  of  God  and 
Son  of  Man.  Another  consoling  truth  is  that 
humanity  has  conquered  evil.  Take  that  great 
fact  as  the  foundation  of  all  action.  There  has 
been  human  temptation  without  human  fall.  There 
has  been  one  Man  at  least  who  has  met  sin  on  its 
own  ground  and  has  baffled  the  tempter.  He  is 
your  own  Brother  and  your  God.  Sin  is  at  His 
feet,  and  death  and  hell.  Brethren,  if  we  love 
Him,  they  shall  be  at  ours.  We  look  forward, 
then,  not  to  defeat,  but  to  victory, — to  individual 
victory,  to  universal  victory.     The  conquest  in  the 


82  HELPS    TO    A    HOLY    LENT. 

wilderness  is  the  earnest  of  a  greater  conquest  yet 
to  be.  All !  why  should  we  faint  and  falter  and 
despair,  when  that  is  so  divinely  true?  "We  are 
fellow-workers  with  the  Almighty  Goodness  to 
that  majestic  end.  Therefore,  conquer  evil  in  your- 
selves in  the  strength  of  Christ.  Personally,  that 
is  the  only  thing  worth  living  for.  And  once  you 
have  begun  to  conquer  evil  in  your  own  heart,  you 
will  be  able  to  contend  to  the  death  against  evil 
without  you  in  the  world.  Let  us  pray  with  added 
fervor  that  He  who  fought  and  won  the  battle  in 
the  wilderness  may  give  us  power  to  do  our  duty 
against  all  wrong  and  all  sin,  with  our  whole  heart 
and  soul  and  mind  and  strength. 

Confirm  us  in  each  good  resolve  ; 
The  tempter's  envious  rage  subdue ; 
Turn  each  misfortune  to  our  good  ; 
Direct  us  right  in  all  we  do. 

OLORD  God  of  infinite  mercy,  who  hast  sent  Thy  Holy  Son 
into  the  world  to  redeem  us  from  intolerable  misery  ;  let 
my  faith,  I  beseech  Thee,  be  the  parent  of  a  good  life,  a  strong 
shield  to  repel  the  fiery  darts  of  the  devil ;  and  grant  that  I 
may  be  supported  by  its  strength  in  all  temptations,  and  re- 
freshed by  its  comforts  in  all  my  sorrows,  till  from  the  imper- 
fections of  this  life  it  may  arrive  at  the  consummation  of  an 
eternal  and  never-ceasing  love  ;  through  Jesus  Christ.    Amen. 


JTourtl)  toe&ttea&ag. 


By  patient  continuance  in  well  doing  seek  for  glory 

and  honor  and  immortality,  eternal  life. 
Rejoicing  in  hope  ;  patient  in  tribulation. 
They  bring  forth  fruit  with  patience. 

Patience  is  of  two  kinds.  There  is  an  active  and 
there  is  a  passive  endurance.  The  former  is  a  mas- 
culine, the  latter  for  the  most  part  a  feminine  grace. 
Female  patience  is  exhibited  chiefly  in  fortitude ; 
in  bearing  pain  and  sorrow  meekly  without  com- 
plaining. For  the  type  of  man's  endurance  you 
may  look  to  the  early  Christians  under  persecution. 
This  is  the  patience  for  us  to  cultivate, — to  bear 
and  to  persevere.  However  dark  and  profitless, 
however  painful  and  weary  existence  may  have 
become ;  however  any  man,  like  Elijah,  may  be 
tempted  to  cast  himself  beneath  the  juniper-tree 
and  say :  "  It  is  enough :  now,  O  Lord !  " — life  is  not 
done,  and  our  Christian  character  is  not  won,  so 
long  as  God  has  anything  left  for  us  to  suffer,  or 
anything  left  for  us  to  do. 


84  HELPS   TO   A    HOLY   LENT. 

Patience,  however,  has  another  meaning.  It  is 
the  opposite  of  that  impatience  which  cannot  wait. 
This  is  one  of  the  difficulties  of  spiritual  life.  We 
are  disappointed  if  the  harvest  do  not  come  at 
once.  It  is  the  work  of  a  long  life  to  become 
a  Christian.  Many,  oh !  many  a  time,  are  we 
tempted  to  say  :  "  I  make  no  progress  at  all.  It  is 
only  failure  after  failure,  Nothing  grows."  Now, 
look  at  the  sea  when  the  flood  is  coming  in.  Go 
and  stand  by  the  sea-beach,  and  you  will  think  that 
the  ceaseless  flux  and  reflux  is  but  retrogression 
equal  to  the  advance.  But  look  again  in  an  hour's 
time,  and  the  whole  ocean  has  advanced.  Every 
advance  has  been  beyond  the  last,  and  every  retro- 
grade movement  has  been  an  imperceptible  trifle 
less  than  the  last.  This  is  progress,  to  be  esti- 
mated at  the  end  of  hours,  not  minutes.  And  this 
is  Christian  progress.  Many  a  fluctuation,  many 
a  backward  motion,  with  a  rush  at  times  so  vehe- 
ment that  all  seems  lost, — but  if  the  Eternal  work 
be  real,  every  failure  has  been  a  real  gain,  and.  the 
next  does  not  carry  us  so  far  back  as  we  were  be- 
fore. Every  advance  is  a  real  gain,  and  part  of  it 
is  never  lost.  Both  when  we  advance  and  when 
we  fail,  we  gain.     "We  are  nearer  to  God  than  we 


FOURTH    WEDNESDAY.  85 

were.  The  flood  of  spirit-life  has  carried  us  up 
higher  on  the  everlasting  shores,  where  the  waves 
of  life  beat  no  more,  and  its  fluctuations  end,  and 
all  is  safe  at  last.  "  This  is  the  faith  and  patience 
of  the  saints." 

Since  thy  Father's  arm  sustains  thee, 

Peaceful  be  ; 
When  a  chastening  hand  restrains  thee.. 

It  is  He. 
Know  His  love  in  full  completeness 
Fills  the  measure  of  thy  weakness. 
If  He  wound  thy  spirit  sore, 

Trust  Him  more. 

OGOD,  who  by  the  passion  and  death  of  Thine  only-begotten 
Son  didst  crush  the  pride  of  our  enemy  the  devil ;  grant 
to  Thy  faithful  servants,  when  they  are  in  trouble,  to  bear  in 
mind  His  sufferings,  and  cheerfully  to  endure  all  adversities  ; 
through  the  same  Lord  Jesus  Christ  who  livest  and  reignest 
with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost  one  God,  world  without 
end.    Amen. 


iburtl)  (ityttra&ag. 


^ 


We  know  that  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them 
that  love  God. 

Knowing  this,  that  the  trying  of  your  faith  worketh 
patience.  But  let  patience  have  her  perfect  work,  that  ye  may 
be  perf  eet  and  entire,  wanting  nothing. 

As  the  Christian  advances  npon  his  way,  a  sweet 
and  solemn  sense  of  the  nnity  of  life  grows  upon 
his  spirit.  "  We  are  complete  in  Him."  Much  of 
our  life,  if  viewed  in  itself  only,  would  appear  pur- 
poseless and  broken,  yet  Christ  has  said  :  "  Gather 
up  these  fragments  that  remain,  so  that  nothing  be 
lost."  We  learn  to  look  at  life  as  a  whole  thing; 
not  to  be  discouraged  by  this  or  that  adverse  cir- 
cumstance, remembering  how  much  there  is  and 
will  be  in  that  life  which  is  "  like  frost  and  snow, 
kindly  to  the  root,  though  hurtful  to  the  flower  ; " 
fatal  to  the  bloom  and  fragrance,  the  lovely  and 
enjoyable  part  of  our  nature,  but  friendly  to  its 
true,  imperishable  life.     Looking  at  ourselves,  we 


FOURTH    THURSDAY.  87 

may  see  that,  under  a  slight — sometimes  a  very 
slight — modification  of  inward  bent,  or  outward 
circumstance,  we  should  have  been  far  more  happy, 
more  beloved,  apparently  more  useful,  than  now ; 
yet  we  may  also  see  as  plainly,  as  we  confess  it 
humbly,  that  we  have  attained,  through  all  these 
losses,  to  that  to  which  every  gain  is  an  ever  present, 
appreciable  loss.  Gradually,  almost  impercepti- 
bly, the  believer  will  find  the  current  of  his  exist- 
ence sweeping  into  a  broader  channel;  will  find 
"  doors  opening  upon  him"— doors  of  happiness, 
doors  of  usefulness — which  will  be  to  him  a  Gate 
of  Heaven ;  "  windows  opening,"  letting  in  the 
breath  of  summer  upon  his  soul,  filling  it  with  sun- 
shine and  sweet  air;  suddenly,  too,  in  the  deep 
emergencies  of  life,  some  new  interest,  some  friend, 
will  appear  like  the  Great  Twin  Brethren,  or  Saint 
of  old,  in  the  thick  of  the  battle,  vanishing  perhaps 
when  the  fight  is  over,  yet  blessing  him  even  in 
vanishing  from  his  sight. 

Light  is  good,  and  it  is  a  pleasant  thing  to  be- 
hold the  sun.  Yet  far  dearer  than  outward  peace, 
far  sweeter  than  inward  consolation,  is  that,  the 
ever-during  stay,  the  solace  of  the  Christian's  heart, 
the  imperishable  Eoot  of  which  all  else  that  glad- 


88  HELPS   TO    A    HOLT    LENT. 

dens  it  is  but  the  bloom  and  odor ;  the  dry  tree 
that  shall  nourish  when  every  green  tree  of  delight 
and  of  desire  fails.  It  is  to  the  Cross  that  the 
heart  must  turn  for  that  which  will  reconcile  it  to 
all  conflicts,  all  privations  ;  which  will  even  enable 
it,  foreseeing  them,  to  exclaim :  "  Yet  more." 
When  Christ  is  lifted  up  within  the  believing  soul, 
nothing  is  too  hard  for.  it  to  venture  upon  or  en- 
dure ;  it  rests  upon  a  power  beyond  itself,  and  can 
bring  its  whole  strength  to  bear  upon  generous, 
exalted  enterprise.  Show  thy  servant  thy  work, 
and  his  own  will  be  indeed  easy  !  Let  this  power- 
ful attraction  be  once  .felt,  the  heart's,  the  world's 
great  and  final  Overcoming,  and  all  other  bonds 
will  weaken,  ail  other  spells  decay.  "Midnight 
is  past "  sings  the  sailor  on  the  Southern  ocean, — 
"Midnight  is  past ;  the  Cross  begins  to  bendP 

I  do  not  ask  my  cross  to  understand, 

My  way  to  see — 
Better  in  darkness  just  to  feel  Thy  hand, 

And  follow  Thee. 
Joy  is  like  restless  day,  but  Peace  divine 

Like  quiet  night ; 
Lead  me,  O  Lord,  till  Perfect  Day  shall  shine 

Through  Peace  to  Light. 


FOURTH    THURSDAY.  89 

ALMIGHTY  and  everlasting  God,  who  heal  est  us  by  chast- 
ening, and  preservest  us  by  pardoning,  grant  unto  Thy 
suppliants,  that  we  may  both  rejoice  in  the  comfort  of  the 
tranquillity  which  we  desired,  and  also  use  the  gift  of  Thy 
peace  for  the  effectual  amendment  of  our  lives  ;  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.    Amen, 


JTourtl)  irtbag. 


& 


And  one  of  the  malefactors  which  were  hanged  railed  on 
Him,  saying,  If  thou  be  Christ,  save  thyself  and  us.  But  the 
other  answering,  rebuked  him,  saying,  Dost  not  thou  fear 
God,  seeing  thou  art  in  the  same  condemnation  ?  And  we 
indeed  justly ;  for  we  receive  the  due  reward  for  our  deeds: 
but  this  Man  hath  done  nothing  amiss.  And  he  said  unto 
Jesus,  Lord,  remember  me  when  Thou  comest  into  Thy  king- 
dom. And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  To 
day  shalt  thou  be  with  Me  in  Paradise. 

"  Repent  and  believe  ! "  is  the  message  of  God 
to  fallen  man.  Some  mean  to  believe  without 
repentance ;  bnt  they  will  find  themselves  mis- 
taken. Faith  without  previous  repentance  is  a  dead 
thought,  a  mere  notion,  a  doctrine  admitted  either 
with  or  without  evidence, — a  weak,  second-handed 
conviction.  Reasoning,  at  the  best,  built  it  up ; 
reasoning  may  pluck  it  down  again.  It  leaves  the 
mind  unenlightened,  the  heart  untouched,  unpuri- 


FOURTH    FEIDAY.  91 

tied,  the  life  unaltered,  the  soul  under  condemna- 
tion of  death.  Faith  after  true  repentance  is  a 
conviction  resting  on  experience  and  intuitive 
evidence  ;  a  truth  of  the  first  order ;  it  is  the  sub- 
stance of  things  hoped  for  and  the  unshaken  evi- 
dence of  things  unseen  by  carnal  eyes.  It  carries 
reason  and  logic  headlong  ;  it  quickens  and  renews 
the  heart,  enlightens  the  mind,  influences  the  life, 
overcomes  the  world,  and  lays  hold  on  things 
heavenly  and  eternal.  So  was  the  faith  of  the 
penitent  sinner  :  "  Lord,  remember  me  when  Thou 
comest  into  Thy  kingdom."  How  does  he  come 
by  this  faith  in  circumstances  so  unspeakably 
unfavorable,  so  decidedly  opposed  to  it  ?  The 
condemned,  expiring  man,  on  yonder  cross,  the 
Lord  of  heaven  !  A  stumbling-block  of  mountain 
size  to  the  Jews,  and  the  very  height  of  foolishness 
to  the  Greeks  !  His  was  a  giant  stretch  of  faith,  I 
confess.  In  respect  to  external  support,  it  out- 
strips the  faith  of  all  the  Apostles,  the  centurion, 
the  distressed  fathers  and  mothers,  the  blind,  the 
deaf,  the  lepers,  the  paralytics ;  the  faith  of  all 
martyrs  on  the  stake,  in  the  flames,  in  persecution, 
in  caves  and  dens  of  the  earth.  It  was  pure  faith, 
clear  and  free  from  every  support  from  without,  a 


92  HELPS    TO    A    HOLY    LENT. 

work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  unalloyed  by  any  earthly 
ingredient.  St.  Peter  walked  on  the  sea. — but  he  saw 
Christ  pacing  with  firm  steps  over  the  rolling  wave. 
The  Apostles  remained  faithful  to  their  conviction, 
— but  they  had  witnessed  ten  thousand  exhibitions 
of  Christ's  divine  power,  and  had  seen  Him  and 
conversed  with  Him  for  three  years.  The  sick 
and  the  distressed  came  to  Him  from  afar, — but 
the  land  was  full  of  His  fame.  .  The  saints  in  after 
times  sacrificed  their  lives  for  Him, — but  they  had 
accumulating  proofs  of  His  all-overruling  sceptre, 
daily  adding  strength  (if  this  be  possible)  to  the 
testimony  of  the  sacred  records.  And  what  is  it 
for  us  now  to  believe  on  Him  when  the  cloud  of 
witnesses  and  the  mass  of  evidence  in  His  favor 
have  already  become  so  boundless  that  it  requires 
almost  a  life  to  pass  over  and  duly  estimate  the 
whole  of  it  %  It  is  all  comparatively  nothing.  Our 
faith  is  sight;  and  woe  unto  that  man  who  can 
at  this  present  day  live  and  die  without  being  a 
Christian  from  his  heart !  Sodom  and  Gomorrah, 
Bethsaida,  Chorazin,  and  Capernaum,  the  scoffing 
Jews,  the  dying  impenitent  rebel  of  the  text,  will 
condemn  him  in  the  judgment  day. 


FOURTH    FRIDAY.  93 

Father,  perfect  my  trust ! 

Strengthen  my  feeble  faith  ! 
Let  me  feel  as  I  would  when  I  stand 

On  the  shores  of  the  River  of  Death — 

Feel  as  I  would  were  my  feet 

Even  now  slipping  over  the  brink ; 

For  it  may  be  I'm  nearer  home, 
Nearer  now  than  I  think. 

OTHOIT,  who  showest  mercy  and  pity,  grant  me  that 
through  true  faith,  through  good  works,  and  through 
the  Communion  of  Thy  Holy  Body  and  Blood,  I  may  come  to 
Thee  at  last ;  and  have  mercy  on  Thy  creatures,  and  on  me  a 
great  sinner;  who  reignest  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  one  God  world  without  end.    Amen. 


fourtf)   0atttrftag. 


Let  not  jour  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be  afraid. 

In  every  thing  by  prayer  and  supplication  with  thanksgiv- 
ing let  your  requests  be  made  known  unto  God.  And  the 
peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  understanding,  shall  keep 
your  hearts  and  minds  through  Christ  Jesus. 

The  right  method  of  dealing  with  anxieties, 
and  maintaining  peace  of  heart  under  them,  is 
clearly  and  succinctly  laid  down  by  St.  Paul  in  this 
precept.  Whatever  may  be  your  wishes  on  the 
subject  which  makes  you  anxious,  refer  them  to 
God  in  prayer  (using  the  simplest  and  most  direct 
language),  not  asking  Him  absolutely  to  bring  them 
about,  which  might  be  productive  of  anything  but 
a  happy  result,  but  simply  letting  him  know  them, 
and  begging  Him  to  deal  in  the  matter,  not  accord- 
ing to  your  short-sighted  views,  but  as  seems  best 
to  His  wisdom  and  love.  If  prudence  and  caution 
dictate  that  anything  should  be  done  to  avert  the 


FOURTH    SATURDAY.  95 

evil  you  anticipate,  do  it,  and  then  think  no  more 
of  the  subject.  Thinking  of  it  is  utterly  fruitless : 
"  Which  of  you  by  taking  thought  can  add  one 
cubit  unto  his  stature  ? "  And  fruitless  thinking  is 
just  so  much  waste  of  that  mental  and  spiritual 
energy,  every  atom  of  which  you  need  for  your 
spiritual  progress.  Deal  witli  a  fruitless  anxiety 
as  you  would  deal  with  an  impure  or  a  resentful 
motion  of  the  heart.  Shut  the  door  on  it  at  once, 
and  with  one  or  two  short  ejaculatory  prayers, 
rouse  the  will  and  turn  the  thoughts  in  a  differ- 
ent direction.  The  holy  women  on  their  road  to 
Christ's  sepulchre  anticipated  a  difficulty  which 
threatened  to  baffle  entirely  their  pious  design. 
"Who  shall  roll  us  away  the  stone,"  they  said 
among  themselves,  "  from  the  door  of  the  sepul- 
chre ? "  It  turned  out  that  they  were  troubled 
about  nothing.  When  they  marched  up  close  to 
it,  the  difficulty  had  vanished.  "When  they 
looked,"  says  the  Evangelist,  "they  saw  that  the 
stone  was  rolled  away."  Take  encouragement 
from  their  example.  Go  forward  in  your  spiritual 
course  with  all  the  energy  of  your  soul.  Place  the 
foreseen  difficulties  in  the  hand  of  God,  and  He 
shall  remove  them. 


96  HELPS   TO   A   HOLY    LENT. 

Those  who  indulge  fretful  feelings,  either  of. 
anxiety  or  irritation,  know  not  what  an  opening 
they  thereby  give  to  the  devil  in  their  hearts. 
"  Fret  not  thyself,"  says  the  Psalmist ;  "  else  shall 
thou  he  moved  to  do  evU"  And  in  entire  harmony 
with  this  warning  of  the  elder  Scriptures  is  the 
precept  of  St.  Paul  against  undue  indulgence  of 
anger:  "Let  not  the  sun  go  down  upon  your 
wrath,  neither  give  place  to  the  devil"  Peace  is 
the  sentinel  of  the  soul,  which  keeps  the  heart  and 
mind  of  the  Christian  through  Christ  Jesus.  So 
long  as  this  sentinel  is  on  guard  and  doing  his 
duty,  the  castle  of  the  soul  is  kept  secure.  But  let 
the  sentinel  be  removed,  and  the  way  is  opened 
immediately  for  an  attack  upon  the  fortress.  And 
our  spiritual  foes  are  vigilant,  however  much  we 
may  sleep.  They  are  quick  to  observe  an  oppor- 
tunity, and  prompt  to  avail  themselves  of  it.  They 
rush  upon  the  city  at  once  in  the  absence  of  the 
sentinel,  and  do  great  mischief  in  a  short  time. 

In  conclusion,  be  careful  to  maintain  peace  in 
the  heart,  if  thou  wouldst  not  only  resist  the  devil, 
but  also  receive  the  guidance  of  God's  Spirit.  That 
Spirit  cannot  make  communications  to  a  soul  in  a 
turbulent   state,  stormy  with  passion,   rocked   by 


FOURTH    SATURDAY.  97 

anxiety,  or  fevered  with  indignation.  The  Lord 
is  neither  in  the  great  and  strong  wind,  nor  in  the 
earthquake,  nor  in  the  fire ;  and  not  until  these 
have  subsided  and  passed  away,  can  His  still  small 
voice  be  heard  communing  with  man  in  the  depths 
of  his  soul. 

If  our  love  were  but  more  simple 
We  should  take  Him  at  His  word ; 

And  our  lives  would  be  all  sunshine 
In  the  sweetness  of  our  Lord. 

OLORD,  we  beseech  Thee  to  grant  unto  Thy  people  such  a 
measure  of  Thy  heavenly  benediction  and  grace,  that  by 
the  continuance  of  Thy  clemency    they  may  be  delivered  in 
every  hour  of  need  from  the  weakness  of  the  flesh  and  the 
malice  of  the  devil ;  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.    Amen. 
1 


jFourtl)  Sunbag. 


Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters,  and 
he  that  hath  no  money  ;  come  ye,  buy,  and  eat ;  yea,  come,  buy 
wine  and  milk  without  money  and  without  price. 

Let  him  that  heareth  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst 
come.  And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life 
freely. 

Eat,  O  friends  ;  drink,  yea,  drink  abundantly,  0  beloved. 

Thou  art  invited,  O  my  soul,  to  a  royal  banquet ; 
put  on  thy  best  apparel  then,  for  the  King  that 
bids  thee  will  take  great  notice  of  thy  dress.  It  is 
the  marriage  supper  of  the  great  King ;  let  me, 
then,  get  on  the  wedding  garment,  that  I  may  go 
out  to  meet  the  Bridegroom  of  my  soul.  Take 
care  that  thou  appear  like  a  guest,  lest  the  Lord 
of  the  feast  should  look  upon  thee  as  an  intruder. 
But  come,  all  things  are  ready.  Surely  thou  dost 
not  stand  doubtful  whether  thou  shalt  go  or  not, 
nor  make  excuses  to  put  it  off  till  another  time  ? 
Art  thou  sure  if  thou  hast   rejected   this   solemn 


FOrKTH    SUNDAY.  99 

invitation,  and  refused  thy  company  to  the  great 
Master  of  the  feast,  who  does  now  so  passionately 
desire  it, — art  thou  sure  to  be  accepted  another 
time  ?  May  not  these  delays  provoke  the  slighted 
King  to  cry  out  in  His  anger  that  thou  which  wert 
in  vain  bidden,  shalt  not  taste  of  His  supper  ? 

Raise  up  thy  faculties,  therefore,  O  my  soul,  and 
consider  the  many  obligations  that  thou  art  under 
of  hastening  to  the  banquet  of  thy  Lord.  Think 
but  upon  the  condescension  of  the  Almighty.  He 
stoops  to  solicit  my  presence,  and  even  entreats  rne 
to  be  there;  shall  I,  then,  insolently  reject  these 
submissions  of  the  Deity,  and  despise  the  goodness 
of  my  Creator  %  But  as  the  condescensions  of  thy 
Saviour,  O  my  soul,  in  calling  thee  to  the  feast,  so 
the  benefits  of  it  to  thyself  do  oblige  thee  to  accept 
this  call,  and  hasten  to  the  entertainment  with  an 
excess  of  joy.  Here  is  that  which  conveys  grace  to 
the  soul,  and  nourishes  my  faith  and  all  other  vir- 
tues to  that  degree  as  to  make  me  a  new  creature, 
and  fit  me  for  the  real  presence  of  the  Lord  in  His 
eternal  kingdom.  Here  is  that  which  ratifies  the 
promises  of  God,  applies-  the  merits  of  my  Re- 
deemer's death  to  my  soul,  and,  in  a  word,  seals 
the  pardon  of  my  sins.     Here  is  that  which  will 


100  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

make  me,  in  a  manner,  the  receptacle  of  my  God, 
for  He  will  come  unto  me,  and  make  His  abode 
with  me ;  so  that  I  shall  enjoy  Him  here  below, 
and  in  some  measure  anticipate  His  glorious  pres- 
ence, which  is  in  heaven  the  delight  of  angels. 

Reflect  again  upon  the  honor,  O  my  soul,  that 
is  conferred  upon  thee.  Why  this  great  honor, 
O  my  Lord,  to  me,  the  most  wretched  of  all  that 
are  called  to  Thy  heavenly  table  ?  "Was  it  not 
enough  for  Thee  to  come  down  from  Thy  glorious 
seat  above,  and  die  upon  the  Cross  for  me,  but 
must  Thou  also  provide  this  heavenly  banquet  for 
Thy  servant,  and  oblige  him  to  sit  down  in  Thy 
presence,  and  feed  upon  the  bread  of  life  ?  O  my 
soul,  how  I  am  obliged,  in  gratitude  to  my  Saviour's 
love  upon  the  cross,  to  be  frequent  in  the  com- 
memoration of  it !  He  there  trod  the  wine-press 
of  the  wicked  world's  misery,  and,  in  the  bitter  an- 
guish of  His  departing  soul,  cried  out  that  God  had 
forsaken  Him;  The  disgrace  as  well  as  the  torments 
of  His  cruel  death,  together  with  His  willingness 
to  endure  all  this  for  my  redemption,  are  such  in- 
stances of  love,  even  in  this  invitation,  too,  as  call 
for  the  highest  expression  of  gratitude  and  a 
thankful  acceptance  of  the  proffer. 


FOURTH    SUNDAY.  101 

Thine  was  the  bitter  price, 

Ours  is  the  free  gift  given ; 
Thine  was  the  blood  of  sacrifice, 

Ours  is  the  wine  of  heaven ! 

For  Thee  the  burning  thirst, 

The  shame,  the  mortal  strife, 
The  broken  heart,  the  side  transpierced  ; 

To  us,  the  Bread  of  Life  ! 

GRANT  me,  blessed  Lord,  not  only  to  receive  that  Sacra- 
ment in  the  outward  elements,  but  in  the  virtue  and 
power  thereof ;  not  bread  and  wine  alone,  but  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  my  Jesus,  to  the  remission  of  all  my  sins  and  to  all 
the  other  benefits  of  His  death  and  passion  for  me  ;  through 
the  same  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour.     Amen. 


Jburtl)  Jttcmbag. 


God,  who  commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness,  hath 
shined  in  our  hearts,  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
glory  of  Grod  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 

We  know  that,  when  He  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like 
Him  ;  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is. 

And  every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in  him  purifieth  himself, 
even  as  He  is  pure. 

"  The  angels,"  says  one  of  the  Fathers  of  the 
Church,  "  always  carry  their  heaven  about  with 
them  wheresover  they  are  sent,  because  they  never 
depart  from  God  or  cease  to  behold  Him,  ever 
dwelling  in  the  bosom  of  His  immensity,  living  and 
moving  in  Him,  and  exercising  their  ministry  in  the 
sanctuary  of  His  divinity."  Christ  gave  warrant 
beforehand  to  this  thought  of  Gregory  the  Great, 
when,  speaking  of  little  children,  He  uttered  that 
unexpected  and  beautiful  description  of  the  privi- 
leges of  their  estate,  so  unlike  all  our  materialistic 
ways  of  reckoning  advantages,  and  says  that  their 


FOURTH   MONDAY.  10S 

angels  do  always  "  behold  the  face  of  His  Father  in 
heaven."     The  preeminent  joy  of  these  spirits  that 
are  without  the  stains  of  conscious  sin  is  their  unin- 
terrupted vision  of  the  beauty  of  the  Lord.     The 
qualification  for  that  honor  is  purity  of  heart.    Light 
is  thrown  from  this  passage  on  another,  not  without 
its  difficulties,  where  the   Saviour  seems  to  make 
infants   models  for   grown  people.     The    disciples 
were  inquiring  who  should  be  greatest  in  the  new 
kingdom.     Such    a   question   must    be    prompted 
not  merely  by  a  vain  curiosity,  but  by  an  ambitious 
emulation.     To  mortify  their  calculating  selfishness, 
Jesus  placed  an  infant  before  them  and  said,  "  Who- 
soever shall  humble  himself  as  this  little  child,  the 
same  is  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven."     His 
other    teachings  forbid  us   to  understand  Him  as 
meaning  that  children  bring  into  life  with  them  no 
stains  of  ancestral  evil,  and  no  natural  proclivities  to 
falsehood  and  self-indulgence.     Nor  can  He  mean 
that  full  grown  men  and  women,  fighting  in  the 
fierce  warfare  and  suffering  in  the  terrible  tragedy 
of  a  world  of  experience,  with  intellect  and  will 
and  passion  developed,  can  return  to  the  untried  and 
comparatively  passive  state  of  an  infantile  nature. 
He  rather  bids  us  enter  into  the  spiritual  elements 


10±  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

of  the  child's  soul,  and  to  find  there  three  or  four 
traits  which  form  essential  features  of  any  mature 
character  that  wears  the  holy  likeness  of  His  own. 
One  is  simplicity.  It  is  the  opposite  of  what  we 
see  in  so  many  adult  persons  in  modern  society, — a 
kind  of  inward  conspiracy  between  intense  selfish- 
ness and  an  unscrupulous  intellect ;  a  strong  head 
combined  with  a  bad  heart.  This  is  something  that 
in  a  child  would  be  pronounced  morally  monstrous. 
Another  trait  is  docility, — a  readiness  to  receive 
wisdom,  whether  taught  by  authority  or  shining  by 
its  own  light.  This  is  the  quality  that  gives  its  sig- 
nification to  the  word  disciple, — the  chosen  name 
of  the  learners  in  Christ's  school.  Another  trait 
is  trustfulness.  This  is  the  willingness  to  be  led  on 
and  held  up  by  a  stronger  hand.  It  is  the  childish 
germ  of  that  great  power  in  the  Christian  which 
afterward,  under  the  nurture  of  the  Gospel  at  the 
foot  of  the  Cross,  accepts  the  Divine  mysteries, 
believes  what  passes  the  understanding,  renounces 
self-sufficiency,  and  inherits  the  victories  that  are 
promised  to  faith.  Another  yet  is  purity.  This  is 
a  cleanness  from  those  actual  defilements  that  come 
by  the  personal  indulgence  of  the  lusts  of  the  flesh. 
It  belongs  to  hearts  .  that  are  either  unpolluted  by 


FOURTH   MONDAY.  105 

the  touch  of  external  corruption,  .or  else,  by  the  puri- 
fying power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  after  having  been 
once  disordered  through  the  inordinate  activity 
of  the  senses,  are  restored  to  chastity.  These,  then, 
are  the  spiritual  graces  that  we  are  to  cultivate,  or 
to  restore  in  our  souls  if  we  would  share  in  the 
benediction  pronounced  by  the  Saviour  on  a  child- 
like character.  If  we  inquire  which  is  chief  among 
them,  some  light  is  thrown  on  that  question  when 
we  turn  to  the  Beatitudes.  What  is  the  grace  that 
is  there  specially  singled  out  as  the  qualification  for 
the  Beatific  Vision  ?  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in 
heart,  for  they  shall  see  God."  The  meek  shall  in- 
herit the  earth.  Hunger  and  thirst  after  righteous- 
ness shall  have  their  longing  filled.  The  merciful 
shall  obtain  more  mercy  than  they  bestow.  The 
peace-makers  shall  be  called  God's  children.  But 
there  is  one  measure  of  the  fulness  of  joy  higher 
and  richer  than  any  other.  It  is  not  only  to  be  re- 
warded and  comforted  by  being  in  heaven,  but  it  is, 
with  the  angels  that  watch  over  little  children,  to 
see  Him  whose  presence  makes  it  heaven.  Among 
all  the  raptures  of  beatitude  the  Beatific  Yision  is 
supreme ;  and  that,  so  far  as  Revelation  has  lifted 
the  veil,  is  only  for  the  pure  in  heart. 


106  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Since  to  Thy  little  ones  is  given  such  grace, 

That  they  who  nearest  stand 
Alway  to  God,  in  heaven,  and  see  His  face, 

Go  forth  at  His  command, 
Grant,  Lord,  that  when  around  the  expiring  world 

Our  seraph  guardians  wait, 
While  on  her  death-bed,  e'en  to  ruin  hurled, 

She  owns  Thee  all  too  late  ; 
They  to  their  charge  may  turn  and  thankful  see 

Thy  mark  upon  us  still ; 
Then  all  together  rise  and  reign  with  Thee 

And  all  their  holy  joy  o'er  contrite  hearts  fulfil ! 

GIVE  me,  0  Lord,  purity  of  lips,  a  clean  and  innocent  heart, 
and  rectitude  of  action.  Make  me  ever  to  seek  Thy  face 
with  all  my  heart,  all  my  soul,  all  my  mind  ;  grant  me  to  have  a 
contrite  and  humbled  heart  in  Thy  presence, — to  prefer  nothing 
to  Thy  love.  Most  high,  eternal,  and  ineffable  Wisdom,  drive 
away  from  me  the  darkness  of  blindness  and  ignorance  ;  most 
high  and  eternal  Strength,  deliver  me  ;  most  high  and  eternal 
Fortitude,  assist  me  ;  most  high  and  infinite  Mercy,  have  mercy 
on  me  ;  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.    Amen. 


iimrtl)  Sttes&ctg. 


u$ 


Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself. 

Jesus  Christ  the  righteous  :  the  propitiation  for  our  sins. 

God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Hirn  should  not  perish,  but 
have  everlasting  life. 

It  is  the  business  of  each  one  of  us  to  apprehend 
the  Gospel  of  a  free,  of  a  personal  absolution.  "  If 
Jesus  Christ  took  upon  Himself  the  sins  of  all 
men,  then  He  took  upon  Himself  my  sins — even 
mine"  is  an  argument  not  more  logically  true  than 
individually  binding.  There  must  be  a  personal 
transaction  between  God  and  the  soul  on  this  basis. 
There  must  be  a  solemn  giving  of  the  individual 
soul — exactly  as  it  is  seen  to  be  and  felt  to  be  in 
history  and  in  circumstance — into  the  hands  of 
God  himself,  on  the  ground  of  a  revelation  made 
by  Him  in  the  Gospel  as  to  a  free  and  total  forgive- 
ness of  all  sin  through  the  alone  merits  of  our  Lord 


108  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Jesus  Christ.  For  lack  of  this,  many  men  are  all 
their  lifetime  subject  still  to  bondage,  even  though 
they  say  with  their  lips,  and  hold  tenaciously  as  a 
doctrine,  "I  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins." 
Yes,  but  of  whose  sins, — the  sins  of  others,  or  your 
own? 

Again,  it  is  the  business  of  each  one  of  us  to 
apprehend  for  himself  the  Gospel  promise  of  a 
Holy  and  Divine  Spirit  to  dwell  personally  in  him 
as" the  life  of  his  life  and  the  soul  of  his  soul.  God 
will  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  Him  / 
then  if  that  be  true — if  that  be  true — I  have  only 
to  ask  and  I  shall  receive.  This,  too,  is  a  transac- 
tion between  God  and  the  man,  which  must  by  its 
very  nature  be  individual  and  even  secret.  God  is 
a  lover  of  acts;  and  there  are  acts  of  the  soul  as 
well  as  acts  of  the  life.  It  is  the  business  of  each 
one  of  us,  having  thus  stamped  upon  himself,  by 
an  individual  act,  the  seal  of  his  consecration — the 
double  seal  of  a  Divine  absolution  and  a  Divine 
indwelling — then  to  go  forth  as  a  forgiven  man, 
and  as  a  spiritual  man,  not  indeed  to  presume  upon 
what  he  has  done, — not  indeed  to  contradict  by 
daily  inconsistency,  or  to  sin  away  by  daily  trifling, 
the  relation  toward  God  into  which  he  has  thus 


FOURTH   TUESDAY.  109 

solemnly  entered, — but  still,  I  will  say  it  without 
fear  of  misconstruction,  as  much  as  possible  to  for- 
get himself;  to  forget  himself  in  his  Saviour's  ser- 
vice, and  to  forget  himself  in  giving  his  very  life 
for  his  brethren.  Let  the  individual  life,  thus  far, 
and  in  this  holy  sense,  be  merged  and  lost  in  the 
relative.  Let  no  cowardly  misgiving  haunt  him, 
lest  perhaps  he  be  going  amongst  those  who  share 
not  to  the  full — or  perhaps  share  not  at  all — his 
convictions  and  his  aspirations.  Let  him  go,  not 
asking  where  he  is  safest,  but  who  most  want  him. 
Let  him  go,  calling  in  beforehand,  and  calling  in 
throughout,  the  forgiving  grace  and  the  inhabiting 
Spirit.  Let  him  go,  not  to  display  himself,  but  to 
glorify  God;  leading  others,  who  mark  his  kind 
words,  his  wise  counsels,  his  gracious  spirit,  his 
peaceful  countenance,  to  think  of  his  God  with 
more  reverence,  and  of  his  Saviour  with  more  love. 
And  God  will  keep  the  feet  of  His  saints  ;  He 
will  not  suffer  one  who  thus  mixes  amongst  men 
to  be  suddenly  surprised  or  greatly  moved.  Thus, 
through  him  not  least,  shall  the  Almighty  Lord 
make  good  His  divine  saying :  7,  lifted  up  from 
the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me. 


110  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

For  lo  !  in  hidden  deep  accord, 
The  servant  may  be  like  his  Lord. 
And  Thy  love  our  love  shining  through. 
May  tell  the  world  that  Thou  art  true, 
Till  those  who  see  us,  see  Thee  too. 

f\  RANT  us,  O  Lord,  not  to  mind  earthly  things,  but  to  love 
VJT  things  heavenly  ;  and  even  now,  while  we  are  placed 
among  things  that  are  passing  away,  to  cleave  to  those  that 
shall  abide ;  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.    Amen. 


jftftl)  toebnesbaa. 


D 

If  ye  will  not  drive  out  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  from 
before  you  ;  those  which  ye  let  remain  of  them  shall  be  pricks 
in  your  eyes,  and  thorns  in  your  sides,  and  shall  vex  you  in 
the  land  wherein  ye  dwell. 

Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith. 

I  see  another  law  in  my  members,  warring  against  the  law 
of  my  mind,  and  bringing  me  into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin 
which  is  in  my  members. 

We  are  more  than  conquerors  through  Him  that  loved  us. 

Never  can  it  be  well  with  us  till  we  are  heartily 
and  boldly  at  work  warring  against  all  the  enemies 
of  the  King.  It  may  be  that  one  requires  our  first 
collected  strength  and  almost  undivided  attention, 
but  the  others  must  not  therefore  have  peace.  We 
may  leave  them  till  they  attack  us,  while  we  go 
forward  to  storm  the  fenced  city  of  another,  but 
we  must  make  no  friendship  with  them,  nor  even 
let  them  come  peaceably  to  us.     They  are  against 


112  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

our  God,  and  we  must  be  against  them,  or  we  can- 
not be  wholly  for  Him. 

We  Christians  are  His  soldiers,  and  must  not 
shrink  from  carrying  out  His  orders.  If  we  make 
terms  with  sin,  we  are  traitors  to  Him  who  requires 
that  we  should  be  ready  even  to  resist  unto  blood, 
and  proclaims,  "  He  that  findeth  his  life  shall  lose 
it ;  but  he  that  loseth  his  life  for  My  sake  shall  find 
it."  We  cannot  be  as  those  who  have  not  known 
Him  and  His  will,  nor  even  as  those  who  rejected 
Him  when  they  had  only  seen  Him  outwardly  as 
the  Son  of  Man,  though  of  them  He  says  that  they 
hated  the  light,  and  came  not  to  the  light,  lest  their 
deeds  should  be  reproved.  If  we  hold  off  from 
opening  ourselves  to  His  searching,  we  are  like  them 
in  not  coming  to  the  light ;  but  we  are  worse,  because 
we  say  we  see,  even  in  a  sense  in  which  they  did 
not.  They  said,  "  We  see,"  thinking  the  light  of 
the  Law  enough.  .We  say  we  see  the  light  of  the 
Gospel.  Worse,  then,  will  it  be  with  us  than  with 
them,  if  we  will  not  come  to  that  light ;  for  any 
affection  we  have  toward  the  things  it  will  reprove. 
Oh,  let  it  shine  full  upon  all  your  ways  !  Hold  back 
nothing !  Bring  every  thought,  word,  look,  mo- 
tion, under  its  pure  and  searching  light ;  and  wink 


FIFTH   WEDNESDAY.  113 

not  when  your  most  favorite  fancies  and  pursuits 
are  before  it.  Look  them  through  and  through,  if 
by  any  means  you  may  detect  in  them  the  least 
spot  of  the  canker  of  sin,  and  when  you  have  found 
it,  magnify  it  in  your  own  eyes  by  a  concentrated 
attention  as  though  with  a  microscope,  till  you  can 
see  its  horrid  and  monstrous  shape,  and  its  incal- 
culable growths  and  multiplications,  and  till  you 
are  not  only  emboldened  to  cast  it  from  you,  but 
loathe  it,  and  loathe  your  very  self  for  having 
borne  it  about  you. 

All  that  you  can  see  is  but  a  faint  image  of  the 
malignity  that  inspires  sin,  of  the  spiritual  wicked- 
ness against  which  you  have  to  wrestle,  and  which 
sets  itself  utterly  and  wholly  against  God,  and 
against  all  that  is  good  and  holy,  and  would  turn 
the  whole  creation  into  loathsomeness  and  cor- 
ruption. With  this  you  take  part,  so  far  as  you 
allow  sin.  For  your  soul's  sake,  and  for  the  love 
of  your  Creator,  your  Redeemer,  your  Sanctifier, 
beware  of  such  fellowship  ! 

Thou  treadst  upon  enchanted  ground ; 
Perils  and  snares  beset  thee  round  ; 
Beware  of  all ;  guard  every  part, 
But  most,  the  traitor  in  thy  heart. 

8 


114  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Come,  then,  my  soul !  now  learn  to  wield 
The  weight  of  thine  immortal  shield ; 
Put  on  the  armor  from  above 
Of  heavenly  truth  and  heavenly  love. 

OLORD,  the  great  Physician  of  our  mortal  hurts  and 
wounds,  send,  we  beseech  Thee,  Thy  salvation  upon  our 
weakness,  that  with  Thee  on  our  side  and  fighting  for  us  we 
may  overcome  the  assaults  of  the  enemy,  and,  pouring  forth 
all  our  tears  and  sorrows  before  Thee,  may  prevail  against  the 
motions  of  our  sins  ;  through  Thy  mercy  who  livest  and 
reignest  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost  one  God,  world 
without  end.    Amen. 


JTiftl)   fltyttraboa. 


«*» 


It  is  enough  for  the  disciple  that  he  be  as  his  master,  and 
the  servant  as  his  lord. 

Even  as  the  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto, 
but  to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for  many. 

He  died  for  all,  that  they  which  live  should  not  henceforth 
live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  Him  which  died  for  them  and 
rose  again. 

Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,  and  so  fulfil  the  law  of 
Christ. 

"  Neither  the  saints  here  know  their  own  good- 
ness, nor  the  rejected  their  own  crimes."  When 
Christ  the  Judge  tells  them,  "  Ye  treated  me  so 
and  so,"  it  seems  strange  to  them,  and  they  both 
answer,  "  Lord,  when  saw  we  Thee,  to  be  kind  or 
unkind  to  Thee  ?  "  And  He  will  tell  them,  "  In- 
asmuch as  ye  did  it,  or  did  it  not,  to  one  of  the 
least  of  these  My  brethren,  ye  did  it,  or  did  it  not, 
to  Me."  Consider  well,  Christian  friend,  what 
our  Lord  here  teaches  us  all.  He  teaches  us  that  He 
is  Himself  present  with  us,  in  the  persons  of  our 


116  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

brethren,  to  be  well  or  ill  treated.  You  are 
out  on  the  road,  perhaps,  or  you  are  sitting 
quietly  at  home,  and  you  meet  with  some 
one,  or  some  one  comes  to  you,  who  needs 
your  help,  and  you  have  the  power  to  help  him. 
You  refuse,  perhaps,  to  help  him,  for  some  selfish 
reason ;  perhaps  you  treat  him  with  rudeness  and 
scorn.  He  goes  away,  and  you  think  no  more  of 
it.  But  see  what  our  Lord  here  teaches  concerning 
you  and  that  person.  Your  meeting  with  him  will 
be  remembered  at  the  last  day,  and  you  will  find 
then,  what  you  little  thought  of  at  the  time,  that  it 
was  Christ  himself  whom  you  were  scorning  and 
rejecting ;  Christ  who  laid  down  His  life  for  you,  and 
who  at  that  and  every  other  moment  was  giving  you 
all  that  you  had.  He  asked  you  for  a  very  little  out 
of  His  gifts  back  again  :  a  little  money  or  time  or 
trouble,  or  may  be  only  a  kind  word  or  look,  and 
you  refused  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  you  from  a  sense  of  duty 
put  yourself  out  of  the  way  to  do  another  person 
good  in  body  or  soul,  though  you  might  not  dis- 
tinctly consider  it  at  the  time,  you  will  find  at  the 
last  that  Christ  was  really  there,  that  He  reckons 
it  as  if  you  were  doing  good  to  Him  :  it  is  written  in 


FIFTH   THURSDAY.  117 

His  book,  and  will  in  nowise  lose  its  reward.  Our 
Lord  spake  it  about  bodily  charity  only ;  but  it 
holds  true  also  with  regard  to  works  of  purity, 
and  of  that  charity  which  regards  people's  souls ;  it 
seems  a  trifle,  to  all  but  earnest  believers,  to  give 
way  to  bad  thoughts,  to  take  sinful  liberties  with  the 
eye  or  hand  ;  but  what  says  the  Scripture  ?  Your 
eyes  and  your  hands  are  members  of  Christ ;  shall  I 
then  take  Christ's  Eye  and  Hand,  and  make  an 
unclean  use  of  them  ?  Indeed,  we  shall  never  un- 
derstand how  grievous  are  our  sins  against  purity, 
until  we  have  learned  to  believe  indeed  that  we  are 
members  of  Christ  ourselves  ;  nor  against  charity, 
until  we  believe  that  our  brethren  are  so.  The  last 
clay  will  show  us  what  a  depth  of  good  or  evil  lay 
in  all  that  we  did  willingly.  It  will  show  us  that 
nothing  could  be  a  trifle  to  us,  where  there  was  a 
right  and  a  wrong. 

If  I  have  turned  away, 
From  griei  or  suffering  which  I  might  relieve, 
Careless  the  cup  of  water  e'en  to  give, 

Forgive  me,  Lord,  I  pray, 

*        And  teach  me  how  to  feel 
My  sinful  wanderings  with  a  deeper  smart ; 
And  more  of  mercy  and  of  grace  impart, 
My  sinfulness  to  heal. 


118  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

OGOD,  who  art  Love,  grant  to  Thy  children  who  eat  of  Thy 
bread,  to  bear  one  another's  burdens  in  perfect  good-will ; 
may  they  with  one  mind  provoke  one  another  to  love  and  to 
good  works,  that  by  their  holy  conversation  the  sweet  labor  of 
Christ  may  be  shed  abroad;  through  the  same  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord  who  reigneth  with  Thee  and  the  Holy  Ghost  one 
God,  world  without  end.    Amen. 


ififll)  iviiias. 


%ft 


But  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  Cross  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  the  world  is  crucified  unto 
me,  and  I  unto  the  world. 

And  whosoever  doth  not  bear  his  cross  and  come  after  Me, 
cannot  be  My  disciple. 

Looking  unto  Jesus,  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith ; 
who  for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him  endured  the  cross, 
despising  the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
Throne  of  God. 

On  whomsoever  and  howsoever  the  Cross  has 
come,  be  it  as  the  evident  chastisement  of  sins,  the 
very  consequence  of  them,  or  signal  punishment  for 
them ;  yet,  if  it  be  borne  meekly  by  virtue  of  the 
saving  Cross,  such — though  the  poorest  or  most 
ignorant,  with  no  other  gifts  of  nature,  no  speech 
nor  utterance  beyond  the  simple  confession  of 
Christ's  mercies  through  the  Cross — becomes,  by 
his    very  being,   a  preacher  of   Christ    crucified. 


120  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Such  is  the  wonderful  and  mysterious  efficacy  of 
the  Cross.  It  has  a  power  and  virtue,  wherever  it 
descends,  infused  by  Him  who  said  :  "  When  I  am 
lifted  up  from  the  earth,  I  shall  draw  all  men  unto 
Me."  "Words  of  comfort  have  other  power,  they 
speak  another  language,  they  speak  to  the  heart, 
when  uttered  by  one  who  has  felt  the  blessed  pene- 
trating, because  piercing,  touch  of  the  Cross. 
Words  have  a  power  not  their  own,  when  given 
through  the  inward  knowledge  of  the  Cross.  They 
who  utter  them  have  a  mysterious  being  and  priv- 
ilege they  know  not  of ;  of  themselves  they  know 
this  only,  that  Christ  has,  as  they  deeply  feel,  for 
their  sins,  given  them  His  cup  to  drink.  But  He 
who  regards  not  their  unworthiness,  but  has  vouch- 
safed to  them  His  Cross  to  heal  them,  giveth  to  it, 
in  them,  its  own  efficacy.  As  they  on  whom  His 
gifts  of  healing  were  shown — the  lame,  or  paralytic, 
or  blind,  or  leprous — became,  by  their  very  being, 
living  witnesses  of  his  mighty  love,  so  now,  who- 
soever, having  been  once  blind  to  himself,  to  the 
nature  of  sin,  or  the  holiness  of  God,  now,  through 
the  touch  of  the  Cross,  sees ;  whosoever,  once 
bowed  down  by  a  spirit  of  infirmity  to  earthly 
things,  has  now  been  lifted  up  to  the  Cross,  and 


FIFTH    FRIDAY.  121 

from  it  beholds  Lis  Lord,  is,  by  that  very  change, 
a  witness  that  unto  Christ  crucified  and  risen  and 
ascended,  "  all  power  is  given  in  heaven  and  in 
earth."  It  needs  not  words.  The  lowlier,  the 
more  real  and  powerful  his  witness  ;  for  lowliness 
is  the  depth  of  the  grace  of  Christ.  As,  before, 
through  sin,  there  hung  around  him  a  nameless 
something,  bearing  a  token  of  inward  decay,  so, 
when  turned  to  God  through  the  Cross,  there  is  a 
hidden  power  within  him,  giving  force  to  words, 
looks,  acts,  his  very  self-abasement  and  deep  sense 
of  unworthiness,  not  his  own  nor  known  to  him, 
but  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Comforter,  who  ever 
rests  upon  the  Cross  and  hallows  it. 

Blessed,  then,  thrice  blessed,  are  ye  to  whom 
}Tour  Lord  has  fitted  your  cross,  as  He,  in  His  right- 
eous but  tender  love  saw  best  for  you.  Blessed  are 
ye,  if  ye  but  learn  your  blessedness,  whatever  cross, 
by  nature  or  by  the  order  of  His  government,  He 
has  placed  upon  you.  Ye  will  not  seek  high 
things  on  whom  the  lowly  Cross  has  been  be- 
stowed. But  treasure  it  up  for  yourselves  in  your 
secret  hearts  ;  there  is  no  form  of  it  which  is  not 
healing ;  bury  it  deep  there  :  it  will  heal  you  first, 
through   His   gracious   Spirit,    and  when    it    hap 


122  HELPS  TO  A  HOLT  LENT. 

healed  you,  will,  through  you,  heal  others.  Only 
yield  yourselves  to  His  fatherly  hand  who  gave  it 
you,  to  do  to  you,  in  you,  through  you,  His  loving 
and  gracious  will.  So  may  the  very  punishment 
of  sin  raise  you  to  the  very  life  of  the  blessed  ;  the 
chastisement  of  self  will  conform  you,  by  His 
grace,  to  His  ever-blessed  will,  which  is  the  joy  of 
angels,  the  perfection  of  saints,  the  bond  of  all 
things,  the  end  of  the  human  life. 

Every  bird  that  upward  springs 
Bears  the  Cross  upon  his  wings  ; 
We  without  it  cannot  rise 
Upward  to  our  native  skies. 

Every  ship  that  meets  the  waves 
By  the  Cross  their  fury  braves  ; 
We,  on  life's  wide  ocean  tost, 
If  we  have  it  not  are  lost. 

Hope  it  gives  us  when  distressed, 
When  we  faint  it  gives  us  rest ; 
Satan's  craft  and  Satan's  might 
By  the  Cross  are  put  to  flight. 

0  ADORABLE  Jesus,  of  humility  and  compassion  that 
passeth  knowledge,  who  didst  carry  Thine  own  cross  to 
Mount  Calvary,  and  didst  bid  the  mourners  who  followed 
Thee  not  to  weep  for  Thee,  but  for  themselves !  grant  me  to 


FIFTH    FEIDAY.  123 

be  a  partaker  of  Thy  spirit,  that  I  may  bear  with  a  patient  mind 
whatever  cross  Thou  shalt  lay  upon  me,  and  bewail  with  true 
repentance  my  transgressions,  so  that,  crucified  to  the  world, 
I  may  be  quickened  by  Thy  cross  to  life  everlasting.  Grant 
this,  Lord  Jesus,  for  Thine  own  mercy's  sake.    Amen. 


JTtftf)  Sunn-bap. 


0 

The  kingdom  of  God  cometli  not  with  observation. 

Ye  therefore,  beloved  grow  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

In  whom  all  the  building  fitly  framed  together  groweth 
unto  an  holy  temple  in  the  Lord. 

As  new-born  babes,  desire  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word, 
that  ye  may  grow  thereby. 

Men  grow  in  stature,  they  know  not  how ;  they 
eat,  they  drink,  they  sleep,  are  nourished,  they 
know  not  how ;  and  so,  day  by  day,  and  year  by 
year,  pass  through  the  stages  of  life,  through  child- 
hood, youth,  to  manhood  and  mature  years.  So 
should  it  be  in  our  recreation.  In  Holy  Baptism, 
He  recreates  us  in  His  own  image  ;  passes  His 
hand  upon  us,  puts  the  first  germ  of  spiritual  life 
within  us,  to  grow,  be  nourished,  expand,  flower, 
bear  fruit,  until  it  take  into  itself  all  our  old  nature, 
and  we  become  wholly  new.     It  is  a  spark  from 


FIFTH    SATURDAY.  125 

heaven,  which  should  be  fanned  into  a  flame  by 
the  breath  of  charity,  and  burn  within  us,  until  it 
has  consumed  all  low  desires,  all  selfish  thoughts, 
everything  which  oifendeth,  and  yield  us  pure,  a 
holy  acceptable  sacrifice  unto  God.  Such  should 
our  Christian  course  be  ;  such  is  the  blessed  course ; 
a  gradual  daily  growth,  from  the  first  hour  when 
we  awake  to  the  thought  of  God  and  of  our  own 
deathless  being,  to  our  final  passage  through  death 
to  endless  life. 

By  the  grace  of  God  alone  can  we  grow ;  and 
that  flows  into  us  more  largely  or  more  scantily 
according  to  what  we  have  ourselves  become.  If 
we  have  allowed  our  hearts  to  grow  cold  or 
worldly,  much  more  if  defiled,  we  cannot  at  once 
love  or  serve  God,  or  repent,  or  have  that  alacrity 
and  energy  of  faith  which  is  the  blessing  of  His 
more  faithful  servants.  We  are  not  masters  of  our 
own  faith  or  love.  We  cannot  expand  ourselves  to 
receive  God.  One  step  only  is  in  our  power, — the 
next.  We  cannot  at  once  have  great  love,  or  deep 
humility,  or  intense  penitence,  or  an  active  soul,  or 
a  reverent  spirit,  or  a  devout  mind.  We  can 
neither  at  once  unlearn  evil  habits  wholly,  nor 
learn  great  virtues.     We  can  rarely  bound  in  our 


126  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Christian  course.  Step  by  step  is  the  toilsome 
ascent  to  be  won.  Single  acts  of  virtue,  wrought 
by  the  grace  of  God,  are  the  steps  to  heaven.  If 
in  these  we  correspond  to  the  grace  of  God,  He 
will  give  larger  increase.  It  may  be  He  will  bring 
us  into  some  new  trial,  in  which,  if  by  His  grace 
we  conquer,  He  will  make  us  other  men.  One 
decisive  deed  well  done,  solely  for  His  glory 
and  His  love ;  one  trial  well  surmounted  by  His 
grace,  will  often,  through  His  mercy,  lift  men  up 
at  once  far  beyond  their  measure.  On  one  heroic 
act  He  has  wrought  the  whole  living  habit  into 
the  soul.  A  whole  life  may  lie  wrapped  up  in  one 
single  deed,  which  He  hath  given  and  crowneth. 
One  fervent  act  of  self-devotion  to  our  Lord,  giving 
ourselves  for  life  or  death,  weal  or  woe,  to  His 
blessed  and  almighty  will,  surrendering  ourselves 
and  all  which  is  ours  wholly  as  He  wills,  and  it 
may  be  we  shall  find  His  gracious  hand  on  ours, 
leading  us  to  follow  His  steps,  although  it  be  to 
Calvary.  But  as  this  deed  or  purpose  of  itself,  so 
all  is  of  grace.  The  morrow  of  grace  is  no  more  in 
our  power  than  of  time.  The  first  act  for  which 
He  gives  us  grace  is  ours;  all  beyond  is  God's. 
But  as  we  use  the  present,  He  will  give  the  future. 


FIFTH    SATURDAY.  127 

Despair  we  not,  then,  when  we  see  any  grace  of 
reverence  or  deep  love  or  lowly  humility  or  in- 
stant, fervent  thankfulness,  which  we  have  not; 
nor  yet  must  we  attempt  to  transplant  it  at  once, 
full-grown,  into  ourselves.  Pray  we  for  the  grace 
of  God  to  do  each  single  act,  as  He  shall  will,  to 
His  glory  ;  and  He  will  lead  us  whither  as  yet  we 
know  not. 

All  unseen  the  Master  walketh 

By  the  toiling  servant's  side  ; 
Comfortable  words  He  speaketh, 

While  His  hands  uphold  and  guide. 

Holy  strivings  nerve  and  strengthen, 

Long  endurance  wins  the  crown ; 
When  the  evening  shadows  lengthen, 

Thou  shalt  lay  thy  burden  down. 

0  ETERNAL  God  who  seest  my  weakness  and  knowest  the 
number  and  strength  of  the  temptations  against  which 
I  have  to  struggle,  leave  me  not  to  myself,  but  cover  Thou 
my  head  in  the  day  of  battle,  and  in  all  spiritual  combats 
make  me  more  than  conqueror  through  Him  that  loved  me. 
Grant  that  I  may  continue  steadfast,  immovable,  always 
abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  and,  by  patient  continu- 
ance in  well-doing,  seek,  and  at  last  obtain,  glory  and  honor 
and  immortality  and  eternal  life ;  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.    Amen. 


jftftl)  0mt&a». 


While  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  the  ungodly, 
The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin. 
Having  therefore,  brethren,  boldness  to  enter  into  the 
holiest  by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  by  a  new  and  living  way,  which 
He  hath  consecrated  for  us,  and  having  an  High  Priest  over 
the  House  of  God  ;  let  us  draw  near  with  a  true  heart  in  full 
assurance  of  faith. 

Few  disciples  have  ever  been  brought  either  to 
understand  the  Atonement  as  a  doctrine  for  the 
mind,  or  to  feel  it  as  a  power  in  the  heart,  by  any 
argument.  It  is  not  reasoning  that  brings  men  to 
the  foot  of  the  Cross.  When  I  know,  in  my  weak 
will  and  stricken  conscience,  that  I  am  worthless, 
and  with  no  strength  in  me  to  make  myself  rich 
toward  God,  I  shall  want  an  atonement.  When 
the  dreary  conviction  takes  possession  of  me  that  I 
have  lost  my  hold  on  the  mercy-seat  in  heaven  by 
the  thorough  selfishness  of  my  life,  I  shall  betake 
myself  to  that  Mediator  who  places  one  of  His 
mighty  and  merciful  hands  there,  and  the  other  in 


FIFTH    SUNDAY.  129 

my  own.  When  I  see  that,  through  these  wayward 
or  headstrong  years,  I  have  so  sinned  that  there  is 
no  true  life  in  me,  and  yet  that  these  years  are 
hurrying  away,  and  that  the  end  is  not  very  far  off, 
I  shall  be  ready  to  believe  in  that  Sacrifice  which 
takes  all  sin  away, — in  that  Death  which  to  every 
believer  is  endless  Life.  Then  I  must  say  in  my 
closet — and  if  there,  why  not  openly  before  the 
world  ? — "  I  am  lost  if  I  am  left  alone.  Justify  me, 
O  Saviour,  through  Thy  redemption ;  lay  Thy  Cross 
where  Thou  wilt  on  this  my  selfish  and  sinning 
nature.  Touch  me  with  Thy  cleansing  blood.  Be 
thou  my  righteousness,  and  let  me  hide  myself  in 
Thee." 

You  believe  in  God.  You  know  that  He  is  ab- 
solutely holy.  Before  that  holiness  you  know  that 
even  angels  that  are  without  sin  veil  their  faces. 
From  a  contemplation  of  that  splendor  of  spiritual 
purity  you  turn  and  look  upon  yourself.  Your 
whole  character  seems  simply  one  dark  spot  against 
the  brightness.  Reckon  it  as  you  will.  Look  at 
things  done  that  ought  not  to  have  been ;  look  at 
things  left  undone  that  ought  to  have  been  done ; 
examine  motives  and  the  mixtures  of  motives ;  see 
how  much  self  has  had  to  do  with  the  best  things  in 


130  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

you ;  confess  that  pride  and  passion  have  not  let 
yon  alone,  even  when  you  were  at  your  prayers ; 
think  of  the  disguises  that  your  sin  has  put  on,  ag- 
gravating every  other  iniquity  with  that  of  insincer- 
ity ;  consider  what  envy  and  vanity  and  ambition 
and  lust  and  anger  are,  not  only  in  their  uncovered 
deformity,  but  in  the  hidden  roots  of  their  crafty 
and  unclean  life  ;  then  reflect  what  a  life  would  he 
that  should  render  unto  God,  in  blameless  obedience 
and  in  the  unblemished  beauty  of  a  holy  love,  all 
that  is  God's,  and  compare  that  life  with  your  own. 
Is  not  something  wanting  to  bring  that  soul  of  yours 
and  God  together?  Do  you  not  desire  a  "  days- 
man that  can  lay  his  hand  upon  both  %  "  Is  there 
not  needed  an  atonement  ?  Suppose  it  is  suggested, 
then,  that  perhaps,  although  you  are  at  present  so 
far  estranged,  you  can  gradually  work  your  way 
back  and  stand  by  your  own  endeavor,  unatoned  or 
unreconciled,  in  harmony  with  your  God.  Do 
you  believe  that  ?  Does  your  course  hitherto,  from 
year  to  year,  look  like  reaching  that  consummation  ? 
If  it  did,  what  security  have  you  of  a  year  or  a  day 
to  accomplish  that  great  restoration  ?  Besides,  what 
you  want  is  not  peace  by  and  by,  in  an  indefinite 
future ;  you  want  it  now,  if  you  want  it  ever.     Oh, 


FIFTH    SUNDAY.  131 

if  every  soul  that  lives  forever  lives  through  the 
Redeemer's  dying,  then  surely  this  sacrificial  re- 
demption is  not  some  abstruse  or  speculative  dogma 
that  we  should  dispute  about  it ;  it  is  a  Divinely 
human  fact,  and  we  are  to  give  thanks  for  it  and 
glory  in  it.  It  is  no  dream  of  a  troubled  sleep,  no 
device  of  theological  ingenuity, — it  is  the  one  first 
and  most  vital  of  all  living  realities  to  men.  It  is 
to  be  preached  as  men  carry  the  news  of  life  to 
their  brothers  that  have  been  left  to  die.  It  is  to 
be  believed,  without  a  doubt,  by  men  who,  without 
it,  would  find  life  itself  darker  and  drearier  than 
death. 

Holy,  blessed  lives  are  the  fruit  of  that  atonement. 
So  that  on  this  Passion  Sunday  we  can  well  take  up 
the  hymn  of  the  saintly  singer  of  more  than  two 
hundred  years  ago : 

Thou  who  didst  suffer  for  my  good. 

And  die  my  guilty  debts  to  pay  ; 
Thou  Lamb  of  God,  whose  precious  blood 

Can  take  a  world's  misdeeds  away, — 

O  let  this  weary  pain,  the  smart 
Of  life's  long  tale  of  grief  and  loss, 

Be  gently  stirred  within  my  heart 
At  thought  of  Thee  and  of  Thy  Cross ! 


132  HELPS    TO    A    HOLY    LENT. 

I  give  Thee  thanks  that  Thou  didst  die, 

To  win  eternal  life  for  me, 
To  "bring  salvation  from  on  high  : 

Oh,  draw  me  up,  through  love,  to  Thee  1 

0  BLESSED  and  adorable  Saviour,  who  didst  complete  the 
work  of  our  redemption  with  many  sufferings  and  woes 
unutterable !  give  me  grace,  I  beseech  Thee,  to  follow  Thee 
in  the  course  of  Thy  bitter  passion,  that  I  may  consider  what 
Thou  didst  endure  for  us  sinners  ;  and  be  constrained  to  live 
henceforth  not  unto  myself,  hut  unto  Thee,  who  didst  give 
Thyself  for  me,  and  die,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  to  bring  me 
unto  God.     Grant  this  for  Thy  mercy's  sake.    Amen. 


Jiftl)  itlonbajj. 


5^, 


If  I  liad  not  come  and  spoken  unto  them,  they  had  not  had 
sin  :  but  now  they  have  no  cloke  for  their  sin. 

For  this  cause  came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  should  bear 
witness  unto  the  truth. 

The  words  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  contain 
many  things ;  but  they  contain  not  one  compliment ; 
not  one  word  spoken  in  mere  complaisance,  in  un- 
meaning acquiescence,  in  worldly  flattery.  Whoso- 
ever came  to  Him,  friend  or  foe ;  whoever  invited 
Him  to  his  house;  whoever  appealed  to  Him  for 
His  counsel,  must  make  up  his  mind  to  being  dealt 
with  according  to  truth.  A  sinner  is  a  sinner,  a 
hypocrite  is  a  hypocrite,  a  traitor  is  a  traitor,  and 
as  such  he  is  accosted.  "We  scarcely  feel,  as  we 
read  with  eighteen  centuries  between,  what  a  phe- 
nomenon this  must  have  been  in  a  world  just  as 
nattering  then  and  just  as  false  as  now.  There 
was  one  Person  moving  upon  the  earth  who  evi- 


134  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

dently  took  the  measure  of  every  life  and  sounded 
the  depth  of  every  heart ;  One  who  could  character- 
ize, and  made  it  His  business  to  characterize,  each 
human  being  who  came  to  Him,  exactly  as  he  was, 
— moral  or  immoral,  sincere  or  insincere,  earnest  or 
indifferent,  false  or  true.  E"o  one  else  could  do 
this  justly ;  no  one  else  could  do  this  with  pro- 
priety; but  there  was  that  in  Christ  which  made 
men  endure  it  from  Him,  and  though  the  words 
might  rankle,  they  must  be  borne.  And  the  words 
are  there  still.  The  imperishable  Book  records 
them.  They  are  written  for  our  admonition. 
Jesus  Christ  sees  us  as  we  are,  and  He  can  only 
deal  with  us  on  a  footing  of  reality. 

Some  of  us  have  felt  the  blessing  of  this.  In 
moments  of  deep  self-conviction,  we  have  found 
the  unspeakable  comfort  of  entering  just  one  only 
presence  in  which  we  are  known  precisely  as  we 
are,  and  yet  are  borne  with.  There  is  peace,  if 
there  be  pain  also,  in  the  consciousness  of  that 
intuition.  We  have  nothing  to  explain  to  Jesus 
Christ.  Lie  there  at  His  footstool :  He  knows  you 
through  and  through,  and  yet  He  listens  !  There 
is  ever  peace  in  truth.  If  we  seek  not  rest  in  con- 
fession to  man,  it  is  partly  because  it  is  impossible, 


FIFTH    MONDAY.  135 

— we  cannot,  if  we  would,  show  ourselves  as  we 
are;  and  partly  because  we  cannot  trust  man, — 
could  lie  but  see  us  as  we  are,  lie  would  spurn,  lie 
would  abhor.  But  Christ  can  see, — and  yet  He 
loves  too. 

And  the  soul  feels  this.  In  hours  of  mirth  and 
gladness,  in  days  of  pride  and  self-ignorance,  we 
may  not  value  Christ  either  for  His  truth  or  for  His 
tenderness.  But  let  the  evil  day  come — it  may  be 
of  disappointed  ambition,  it  may  be  of  sharp  bereave- 
ment, it  may  be  (worse  yet  to  bear)  of  remorse  and 
shame  and  tarnished  honor — then  there  is  some- 
thing, account  for  it  as  we  may,  which  makes  the 
soul  trust  and  turn  to  the  truthful  and  compassionate 
Lord ;  knowing  before  He  speaks  that  He  knows 
all ;  knowing  before  He  speaks  that  He  can  yet 
abundantly  pardon. 

He  is  alone  my  help  and  hope, 

That  I  shall  not  be  moved ; 
His  watchful  eye  is  ever  ope, 

And  guardeth  His  beloved. 

Whether  abroad  amidst  the  crowd, 

Or  else  within  my  door, 
He  is  my  pillar  and  my  cloud, 

Now  and  for  evermore. 


136  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

BE  Thou,  O  Lord,  onr  protection,  who  art  our  redemption  ; 
direct  oar  minds  by  Thy  gracious  presence,  and  watch  over 
our  path  with  guiding  love ;  that  among  the  snares  which  lie 
hidden  in  this  path  wherein  we  walk,  we  may  so  pass  onward 
with  hearts  fixed  on  Thee,  that  by  the  track  of  faith  we  may 
come  to  be  where  Thou  wouldest  have  us ;  through  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.    Amen. 


I\(t\)  ©uesbag. 


<o\\ 


Let  us  draw  near  with  a  true  heart  in  full  assurance  of 
faith,  having  our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience. 

Though  our  outward  man  perish,  yet  the  inward  man  is 
renewed  day  by  day. 

All  the  paths  of  the  Lord  are  mercy  and  truth  unto  such  as 
keep  His  covenant  and  His  testimonies. 

They  took  knowledge  of  them  that  they  had  been  with 
Jesus. 

The  work  of  our  sanctification  consists  simply  in 
receiving,  from  one  moment  to  another,  all  the 
troubles  and  duties  of  our  state  in  life  as  veils 
under  which  God  hides  Himself  and  gives  Him- 
self to  us.  Every  moment  brings  some  duty  to  be 
faithfully  performed,  and  this  is  enough  for  our 
perfection.  The  moment  which  brings  a  duty  to 
be  performed,  or  a  trouble  to  be  borne,  brings  also 
a  message  declaring  to  us  the  will  of  God.     The 


138  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

soul  has  only  to  follow  Jesus,  the  Divine  Model,  by 
the  way  of  those  crosses  and  sacrifices  which  every 
day  brings.  Are  you  longing  to  find  out  the  secret 
of  belonging  wholly  to  God  ?  It  is  simply  this, — 
to  serve  Him  in  all  that  comes  to  you  ;  in  all  that 
you  have  to  do.  All  leads  to  this  union ;  all 
tends  to  perfect  it,  excepting  sin,  and  that  which  is 
not  our  duty.  Let  us  carefully  keep  hold  of  the 
thread  of  the  Divine  will ;  it  will  guide  us  through 
the  labyrinth  of  this  life,  and  bring  us  safely  to  the 
centre,  which  is  God  himself. 

In  the  life  of  faith  the  soul  continually  pursues 
God  through  all  that  hides  Him,  and,  if  faithful, 
never  stops  in  this  pursuit.  All  roads  bring  it 
nearer  to  God  ;  all  things  are  means  of  leading  it  to 
Him.  Whether  God  afflicts  or  comforts  the  soul, 
it  will  equally  adore  Him  to  be  indeed  its  Lord  and 
its  God.  If  we  had  faith,  we  should  be  at  peace 
with  all  creatures,  thanking  them  in  our  heart  for 
all  the  sufferings  they  cause  us,  because  they  greatly 
help  to  perfect  us.  The  more  nature  rebels,  the 
more  firmly  will  faith  say  :  "  All  comes  from  God, 
or  is  allowed  by  Him,  and  therefore  all  is  good." 
There  is  nothing  which  faith  does  not  overcome ; 
nothing  which  it  will  not  accept.     Faith  passes  be- 


FIFTH    TUESDAY.  139 

yond  all  earthly  things,  pierces  all  shadows,  to 
attain  the  truth ;  keeps  it  ever  in  a  firm  embrace, 
and  will  never  let  herself  be  separated  from  it.  The 
simplicity  and  elevation  which  faith  gives  to  the 
soul  make  it  satisfied  with  everything.  Nothing 
is  wanting  to  it ;  nothing  is  too  much  for  it ;  and 
at  all  times  it  blesses  the  Divine  hand  which  causes 
the  waters  of  grace  to  flow  so  gently  upon  it.  It 
has  the  same  tenderness  for  friends  and  enemies, 
being  taught  by  Jesus  Christ  to  regard  all  men  as 
God's  instruments.  Live  as  one  who  is  going  from 
the  figure  to  the  truth, — from  death  to  immortality, 
— from  time  to  eternity. 

That  love  is  purest  and  most  true 
Which,  leans  upon  its  Saviour's  breast, 

And  thinks  with  pleasure  ever  new 
How  in  all  things  to  please  Him  best  ; 

Which  in  all  things,  not  great  alone, 

On  serving  Him  is  fully  bent, 
And  knowingly  will  not  to  one, 

No !  not  the  smallest  sin  consent. 

0  BLESSED  Lord,  whom  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to 
please,  let  Thy  spirit,  I  beseech  Thee,  work  in  me  such 
a  faith  as  may  be  acceptable  in  Thy  sight,  even  such  as  may 


140  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

show  itself  by  my  works,  that  it  may  enable  me  to  overcome 
the  world,  and  conform  me  to  the  image  of  that  Christ  on 
whom  I  believe  ;  that  so  at  the  last  I  may  receive  the  end  of 
my  faith,  even  the  salvation  of  my  soul,  by  the  same  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.    Amen. 


0i*tl)  tDe&nes&ag. 


i+l  0 


Who  shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of  the  Lord  ?  and  who  shall 
rise  up  in  His  holy  place  ?  He  that  hath  clean  hands,  and  a 
pure  heart. 

Follow  peace  with  all  men,  and  holiness,  without  which  no 
man  shall  see  the  Lord. 

St.  Chrysostom,  St.  Augustine,  Bengel,  and 
Tholuck — men  that  have  gone  deep  down  into  the 
sacred  significance  of  the  Scriptures — have  sup- 
posed that  by  the  original  word  used  for  holiness  is 
meant  that  special  form  of  holiness  or  sanctification 
which  consists  in  the  purging  away  of  unchastity. 
At  the  root  of  all  the  various  uses  of  the  term 
purity  in  the  Bible,  there  lies  the  idea  of  a  spiritual 
love  unmixed  with  any  baser  element.  What  de- 
ranges and  poisons  the  pure  relations  of  human 
society  is  an  adulterated  heart, — the  intermixture 
of  sensual  with  spiritual  and  orderly  affections. 
"When  St.  Paul  exhibits  the  union  of  the  Church 


cr 


142  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

with  Christ  under  the  image*  of  the  Bride  and 
the  Bridegroom,  declaring  it  to  be  the  Divine  pur- 
pose to  present  the  Bride  to  her  Lord  "  holy  and 
without  blemish,"  he  really  offers  the  strongest 
conceivable  appeal  to  the  Christian  disciple  for  an 
unspotted  life.  The  holiness  to  which  we  are 
called  is  not  mere  moral  correctness,  such  as  may 
result  from  a  cool  temperament,  or  a  self-control- 
ling prudence,  or  a  fear  of  social  disgrace,  or  even 
a  scrupulous  conscience.  That  searching  Physician 
of  the  heart,  who  knows  all  that  is  in  man,  aims 
rather  at  the  inner  cleanliness,  which  is  a  far  more 
comprehensive  and  more  profound  grace,  and  is 
obtained  only  by  the  creation  of  his  own  image  in 
the  soul,  or  rather  by  a  secret  union  with  himself. 
So  St.  John,  whose  own  love  for  his  Master  was 
like  the  colorless  light,  tells  us  that  the  real  Chris- 
tian purity  has  both  its  motive  and  its  perfection 
through  an  inward  reception  of  Christ  by  faith  and 
the  hope  of  hereafter  being  drawn  even  into  a 
closer  communion  with  Him  and  likeness  to  Him. 
"  He  that  hath  this  hope  in  him  purifieth  himself, 
even  as  he  is  pure."  To  whatever  degree  the 
presence  of  that  immaculate  purity  is  realized, 
denied  imaginations,  thoughts,  and  actions,  become 


SIXTH    WEDNESDAY.  143 

intolerable,  and  the  voluntary  indulgence  of  them 
becomes  impossible.  As  this  refining  process  goes 
on — the  soul  being  gradually  more  and  more 
"  changed  into  the  same  image,  from  glory  to  glory 
as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  " — it  is  even  conceiv- 
able that  the  whole  scene  of  life  where  we  dwell, 
with  all  its  moral  relationships,  should  come  to  be 
regarded  as  a  kind  of  sanctuary,  and  that  we  should 
shrink  from  the  pollution  of  it  at  any  point  as 
instinctively  and  reverentially  as  we  should  from 
the  profanation  of  a  sacrament.  This  is  holiness. 
At  first,  and  possibly  for  a  long  time,  it  will  need 
incessant  vigil  and  solemn  conflict.  The  forbidden 
curiosity  of  the  first  sinners  in  Eden  tempts  us,  before 
we  are  aware,  along  the  line  of  their  degradation 
and  shame.  But  as  sure  as  we  are  faithful,  the 
struggle  will  become  less  sharp.  Yirtue  will  find 
help  in  the  wholesome  occupations  of  a  Christian 
life.  The  truth  will  open  itself,  that  a  pure  relig- 
ion before  God  is  the  busy  and  charitable  religion 
that  visits  the  fatherless  and  widow,  leaving  no 
time  for  corrupting  trains  of  thought,  reading,  or 
conversation.  A  spirit  so  guarded  keeps  itself  un- 
spotted from  the  world  by  keeping  out  of  the  way 
of  the  world's  ambiguous  allurements.     For  most 


144  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

of  ns  it  is  a  necessary  discipline  and  a  long  battle. 
But  even  if  the  faithful  soldier  and  servant  should 
find  it  a  fight  unto  the  life's  end,  he  is  not  to  lose 
sight  of  the  promised  liberty  and  victory.  Ad- 
vancing well  up  the  hill,  he  will  find  that  unto  the 
pure  all  things  are  pure.  Natural  objects  will  be 
divested  of  their  sensual  associations.  The  entire 
life  will  be  as  unperturbed  by  passion  as  the  heart 
is  swift  in  answering  to  the  attractions  of  Christ's 
holy  will,  and  perfect  in  His  joy. 

Think  that  He  thy  ways  beholdeth ; 

He  unfoldeth 
Every  fault  that  lurks  within  ; 
Every  stain  of  shame  glossed  over 

Can  discover, 
And  discern  each  deed  of  sin. 

OHOLY  and  immaculate  Jesus,  who  wast  conceived  in  a  vir- 
gin's womb,  and  who  dost  still  love  to  dwell  in  pure  and 
virgin  hearts,  give  me,  I  beseech  Thee,  the  grace  to  keep  my 
heart  with  all  diligence,  and  to  withstand  all  temptations  of 
the  flesh,  and  with  pure  and  clean  heart,  to  follow  Thee  the 
only  God,  even  for  Thine  own  merits  and   mercy's    sake. 


— 

He  went  out  and  found  others  standing  idle,  and  saitli  unto 
them,  Why  stand  ye  here  all  the  day  idle  ?  They  say  unto 
Him,  Because  no  man  hath  hired  us. 

Then  said  they  unto  Him,  What  shall  we  do,  that  we  might 
work  the  works  of  God?  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them, 
This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  him  whom  He 
hath  sent. 

We  complain  of  the  slow,  dull  life  we  are  forced 
to  lead,  of  our  humble  sphere  of  action,  of  our  low 
position  in  the  scale  of  society,  of  our  having  no 
room  to  make  ourselves  known,  of  our  wasted  ener- 
gies, of  our  years  of  patience.  So  do  we  say  that 
we  have  no  Father  who  is  directing  our  life,  so  do 
we  say  that  God  has  forgotten  us,  so  do  we  boldly 
judge  what  life  is  best  for  us,  and  so  by  our 
complaining  do  we  lose  the  use  and  profit  of 
the  quiet  years.  We  cannot  be  still,  cannot  be  at 
rest.  It  is  the  most  natural  and  yet  the  most  ruin- 
ous fault  which  belongs  to  men  in  an  age  which 
10 


lttG  HELPS    TO    A    HOLY    LENT. 

lives  too  fast  and  has  almost  a  morbid  passion  for 
incessant  labor.  Oh,  men  of  little  faith !  because 
you  are  not  sent  out  jet  into  your  labor,  do  you 
think  God  has  ceased  to  remember  you  ?  because 
you  are  forced  to  be  outwardly  inactive,  do  you 
think  you  also  may  not  be,  in  your  years  of  quiet, 
"  about  your  Father's  business  ? "  Receive  the 
lesson  of  Christ's  life — the  lesson  Milton  learnt 
from  God's  spirit  in  his  heart — 

"  They  also  serve  who  only  stand  and  wait." 

To  Christ  himself,  His  Father's  business,  then, 
was  the  development  of  all  His  inner  self,  the 
maturing  for  His  work.  The  idea  of  His  mission 
and  the  powers  for  it  grew  together,  and  when  the 
time  for  action  came  He  was  ready. 

Such  times  of  waiting  mark,  not  uncommonly, 
our  life.  Our  youth  is  kept  back  from  the  press 
of  labor,  or  our  manhood  is  forced  to  pause.  It  is 
a  period  given  to  us  in  which  to  mature  ourselves 
for  the  work  which  God  will  give  us  to  do. 

Oh,  use  it  well !  Grow  in  it ;  do  not  retrograde. 
The  way  we  spend  it  oftentimes  in  youth  is  in 
light  indifference  or  daring  bravado ;  and  when  the 
time  comes  in   which  the  work  which    God    has 


8IXTH    THURSDAY.  147 

chosen  for  us  is  ready  for  our  energy,  we  have  no 
instruments  to  work  with,  no  ideas  to  expend  and 
express  in  fruitful  labor.  The  way  we  spend  it 
oftentimes  in  manhood  is  in  whining  at  God's  un- 
fairness, as  we  call  it ;  in  complaining  regret  for 
past  inactivity ;  and  then,  when  work  is  again  laid 
before  us,  we  have  lost  the  time  during  which  we 
ought  to  have  matured  ourselves  ;  enfeebled  the  will 
by  fruitless  wailing ;  chilled  the  aspirations  which 
kindle,  and  the  faith  and  hope  which  sustain,  the 
toiling  spirit  of  a  noble  workman  for  the  race  ;  we 
have  missed  our  opportunity,  and  now  we  cannot 
enter  on  our  ministry.  ^Nothing  is  sadder  than  the 
way  in  which  we  wilfully  spoil  our  life. 

Christian,  no  time  of  seeming  inactivity  is  laid 
upon  you  by  God  without  a  just  reason.  It  is  God 
calling  upon  you  to  do  His  business  by  ripening  in 
quiet  all  your  powers  for  some  higher  sphere  of 
activity  which  is  about  to  be  opened  to  you.  The 
time  is  coming  when  you  shall  be  called  again  to 
the  front  of  the  battle.  Let  that  solemn  thought 
of  dread  yet  kindling  expectancy  fill  the  cup  of 
your  life  with  the  inner  work  of  self-development 
which  will  make  you  ready  and  prepared  when 
your  name  is  called.     The  eighteen  years  at  Naza- 


148  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

reth,  what  was  their  result  ?  A  few  years  of  ac- 
tion, but  of  action  concentrated,  intense,  infinite  ; 
not  one  word,  not  one  deed,  which  did  not  tell, 
and  which  will  not  tell  upon  the  universe  forever. 

Eighteen  years  of  silence,  and  then, — the  regen- 
eration of  the  world  accomplished,  His  Father's 
business  done. 

Oh,  forgive  our  faithless  mind, 

Raise  us  from  our  low  estate, 
Breathe  in  us  the  will  to  find 

Higher  life  in  small  and  great. 

Give  us  watchful  eyes  and  clear, 
Purged  from  the  scales  of  sense, 

Seeing  still  the  Master  near, 
And  the  city  far  from  hence. 

TEACH  us,  0  Lord,  to  submit  ourselves  both  now  and  ever 
to  Thy  will  and  providence,  and  to  cast  all  our  care  on 
Thee,  who  never  lea  vest  those  that  love  Thee  ;  and  grant  that 
we  may  so  seek  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness, 
that  all  good  things  may  be  added  unto  us ;  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.    Amen. 


nf 


0t*tl)  Iri&ctg. 


Surely  He  hath  borne  our  griefs,  and  carried  our  sorrows : 
He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  He  was  bruised  for 
our  iniquities  :  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  Him  ; 
and  with  His  stripes  we  are  healed. 

The  Lord  hath  laid  on  Him  the  iniquity  of  us  all. 

Then  delivered  he  Him  therefore  unto  them  to  be  crucified. 
And  they  took  Jesus  and  led  Him  away.  And  He,  bearing  His 
cross,  went  forth. 

"  Then  delivered  He  Him."  Now  close  the 
temple,  ye  sons  of  Aaron ;  the  types  and  shadows 
with  which  ye  had  to  do  have  done  their  duty,  now 
that  the  Substance  has  appeared.  Lay  aside  the 
hand  from  your  foreheads,  and  the  breastplate, 
ye  ministers  of  the  sanctuary ;  for  know  that  an- 
other now  justly  adorns  Himself  with  both,  and 
that  your  priesthood  has  reached  its  termination. 

The  soldiers  have  made  their  preparations,  the 
awful  sign  has  appeared,  which  has  since  become 


150  HELPS  TO  A  HOLT  LENT.  . 

the  standard  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  the 
token  of  our  salvation.  During  the  space  of  three 
thousand  years  it  was  constantly  symbolized  to  the 
view  of  the  believing  Israelites.  It  is  even  re- 
flected in  the  peculiar  manner  in  which  the  dying 
patriarch  Jacob,  with  crossed  hands,  blessed  his 
grandsons  Ephraim  and  Manassah.  It  glimmered 
no  less  in  the  wave  offerings  of  the  tabernacle  and 
temple,  which,  as  is  well  known,  were  wont  to  be 
waved  so  as  to  make  the  form  of  a  cross  appear. 
In  the  wilderness,  the  sign  was  elevated  to  support 
the  brazen  serpent,  and  the  spirit  of  prophecy  in- 
terwove it  in  the  figurative  language  of  David's 
Psalms  when  placing  in  the  mouth  of  the  future 
Messiah  the  words,  "  They  pierced  My  hands  and 
My  feet." 

Yonder  they  conduct  the  Man  of  Sorrows ! 
One  cannot  reflect  who  it  is  that  is  thus  laden  with 
the  accursed  tree  without  feeling  one's  heart  petri- 
fied with  surprise  and  astonishment.  But  it  is  well 
for  us  that  He  traversed  this  path.  Only  observe 
how  the  form  of  the  Lamb  which  taketh  away  the 
sins  of  the  world  is  so  clearly  expressed  in  Him. 
Behold  Him,  and  say  if  you  do  not  feel  as  if  you 
heard  the  ancient  words  proceed  from  His  silent 


SIXTH    FRIDAY.  151 

lips  :  "  Sacrifice  and  offering  Thou  clidst  not  desire, 
a  body  hast  Thou  prepared  for  Me.  Lo !  I  come, 
I  delight  to  do  Thy  will,  O  my  God,  yea,  Thy  law 
is  within  My  heart."  Had  He  shrunk  back  from 
this  fatal  path,  His  road  to  suffering  would  have 
represented  to  us  that  on  which,  when  dying,  we 
should  have  quitted  the  world.  Instead  of  soldiers, 
the  emissaries  of  Satan  would  have  escorted  ;  in- 
stead of  the  accursed  tree,  the  curse  of  the  law 
itself;  instead  of  fetters,  the  bands  of  eternal  wrath 
would  have  encircled  us,  and  despair  have  lashed 
us  with  its  fiery  scourge.  Now,  on  the  contrary, 
angels  of  peace,  sent  by  Eternal  Love,  will  at 
length  bear  us  on  a  path  of  light,  illumined  by 
heavenly  promises,  to  Abraham's  bosom. 

Certainly,  it  may  still  be  the  case  that,  during 
our  earthly  pilgrimage,  we  are  led  on  similar  paths 
to  that  on  which  we  see  Jesus,  our  head,  proceed- 
ing. For  the  world  hates  His  members,  like  Him- 
self;  and  Satan  ceases  not  to  desire  to  have  His 
redeemed,  that  he  may  sift  them  as  wheat.  But 
heaven  is  no  longer  closed  over  onr  path  of  suffer- 
ing and  disgrace,  nor  does  the  black  cloud  of 
rejection  and  the  curse  obscure  it.  The  sword  of 
God  has  returned  to  its  scabbard,  and  peace  and 


152  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

hope  are  the  gracious  companions  who  walk  by  our 
side.  Christ  has  deprived  our  fearful  path  of  its 
horrors,  our  burdens  of  their  overpowering  weight, 
our  disgrace  and  need  of  their  deadly  stings,  and 
placed  us  in  a  situation  to  say,  with  the  royal  Psalm- 
ist :  "  Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil :  for  Thou  art 
with  me ;  Thy  rod  and  Thy  staff  they  comfort  me." 
Blessed,  therefore,  be  the  faith  of  our  Prince  of 
Peace  on  the  cross !  Let  us  not  cease  to  accompany 
Him  daily  thereon  in  the  spirit.  It  will  unspeak- 
ably sweeten  our  own  painful  path ;  for  why  does 
He  take  this  horrible  road,  but  to  enable  us  to 
traverse  ours  with  heads  erect,  because  we  are  freed 
from  curse  and  care  ?  Upon  His  path  He  not  only 
carries  our  sins  to  the  grave,  and  breaks  a  passage 
through  all  the  obstacles  which  blocked  up  our 
access  to  the  Father,  but  He  makes,  at  the  same 
time,  all  the  bitter  waters  of  the  desert  sweet,  and 
neither  leaves  nor  forsakes  us  till  He  brings  us  safe 
to  our  heavenly  home. 

The  Cross  is  heavy  in  thy  human  measure, 
The  way  too  narrow  for  thy  inward  pride ; 

Thou  canst  not  lay  thine  intellectual  treasure 
At  the  low  footstool  of  the  Crucified. 


SIXTH    FRIDAY.  153 

Oh,  tliat  my  faithless  soul  one  hour  only 

Would  comprehend  the  Christian's  perfect  life  ; 

Despised  with  Jesus — sorrowful  and  lonely — 
Yet  calmly  looking  upward  in  the  strife. 

0  CHRIST,  0  Son  of  God,  whom  Thy  Father  delivered  up 
for  us  all  when  He  accepted  Thee  as  the  true  Oblation 
for  us,  hearken  to  the  prayers  of  Thy  people,  save  those  whom 
Thou  hast  purchased,  quicken  those  whom  Thou  hast  freed, 
suffer  not  to  go  into  everlasting  mourning  those  whom  Thou 
didst  come  to  redeem,  lest  they  should  perish  eternally.  Thou 
who  didst  endure  the  Cross  for  us,  pierce  our  hearts  with  the 
nails  of  Thy  fear,  that  here  we  may  obtain  remission  of  our 
sins,  and  in  the  world  to  come,  eternal  joy  ;  through  Thee 
whom  we  believe  to  have  been  crucified  for  all,  and  who 
livest  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost  one  God,  world 
without  end.    Amen. 


0t*tl)  Saturbajj. 


$h 


Looking  for  and  hasting  unto  the  coming  of  the  day  of 
God. 

Abide  in  Him ;  that,  when  He  shall  appear,  we  may  have 
confidence. 

Watch  ye  therefore,  for  ye  know  neither  the  day  nor  the 
hour  when  the  Son  of  Man  cometh. 

At  the  time  appointed  the  end  shall  be. 

We  are  not  yet  in  our  home  ;  not  as  yet  do  we 
reign  ;  things  around  us  still  dazzle  us ;  self-pleased 
thoughts  may  yet  mislead  us ;  we  have  still,  while 
yet  we  are  in  the  flesh,  to  strike  closer  and  closer 
into  the  narrow  way,  closer  and  closer  to  cleave  to 
God,  more  and  more  to  part  with  all  which  would 
keep  us  from  God.  And  so  God  often  brings 
things  around  us  to  a  sudden  end,  or  brings  us  in 
our  own  sight  near  the  end,  that  so  we  may  see 
things  more  as  we  shall  see  them  in  the  end.     Sea- 


SIXTH    SATURDAY.  155 

sons  of  sorrow  or  sickness,  or  approaching  death, 
have  shown  persons  a  whole  life  in  different  colors 
from  what  it  wore  before  ;  how  what  before  seemed 
"  grace  "  was  but  "  nature  ;  "  how  seeming  zeal  for 
God  was  but  natural  activity ;  how  love  of  human 
praise  had  robbed  men  of  the  praise  of  God  ;  how 
what  they  thought  pleasing  to  God  was  only  pleas- 
ing self;  how  one  subtle,  self-pleasing  sin  has 
cankered  a  whole  life  of  seeming  grace.  Wherever, 
then,  we  may  be,  in  the  course  heavenward,  morn- 
ing by  morning  let  us  place  before  ourselves  that 
morning  which  has  no  evening ;  and  purpose  we 
to  do  that,  and  that  only,  which  we  shall  wish  we 
had  done,  when  we  shall  see  it  in  the  light  of  that 
morning  when  in  the  brightness  of  His  presence 
every  plea  of  self-love  which  now  clouds  our  eyes 
shall  melt  away.  Evening  by  evening  set  we  be- 
fore us  that  night  "wherein  no  man  can  work," 
and  resolve  we,  by  God's  grace,  to  work  on  the 
morrow,  if  we  see  it,  more  steadfastly  the  works 
of  God.  "Place  daily,"  says  St.  Anselm,  "place 
daily  before  your  eyes  your  end.  Think  most  in- 
tently whose  those  things  shall  be,  what  they  shall 
profit  you,  which  shall  remain  after  you.  Think 
whither  ye  shall  go  ;  what  ye  shall  carry  with  you ; 


156  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

what,  sent  before  by  you,  ye  shall  find  there.  Of 
a  truth,  ye  shall  not  carry  thither  nor  find  there 
aught  but  your  own  deeds,  good  or  bad.  This 
think  ye ;  these  things  meditate,  by  night  and  by 
day,  in  public  or  in  private  ;  this  be  your  converse 
together,  What  do  we  ?  Why  linger  we  ?  Near 
is  our  last  day.  How  spend  we  our  life  ?  How 
make  we  amends  to  God  for  our  sins?  Prepare 
we,  as  seeing  close  to  us  the  day  of  our  calling 
hence,  and  so  fashion  ourselves  that  we  may,  with- 
out fear,  go  to  judgment,  since  there  we  shall  re- 
ceive what  we  have  done  in  the  body,  good  or 
bad." 

Shrink  we  not,  although,  as  we  bring  our  works 
near  to  the  light  of  that  Day,  much  seeming  good 
be  shown  to  us  to  be  real  evil,  or  full  of  imperfec- 
tion. Shrink  we  not,  although  our  seeming  treas- 
ure melt  away,  and  wherein  we  thought  ourselves 
rich  we  find  ourselves  poor ;  shrink  we  not,  al- 
though the  fire  of  that  Hay,  while  it  burns  away 
our  dross,  scorch  us ;  draw  we  not  back,  although 
by  that  light  we  see  that  we  must  part  with  this 
self-indulgence,  or  sloth,  or  quickness  of  temper, 
or  that  cherished  way  of  acting,  which  has  wound 
close  around  us  self-esteem,  or  ldve  of  the  praise 


SIXTH    SATURDAY.  157 

of  man,  or  even  longing  for  human  sympathy. 
Rather  offer  we  ourselves,  in  union  with  the  All- 
atoning  Sacrifice,  to  love  nothing,  to  prize  nothing, 
to  wish  for  nothing,  to  fear  nothing,  to  hold  noth- 
ing, to  regret  nothing,  but  what  we  shall  love, 
prize,  wish  for,  or  be  glad  we  had  feared,  held,  re- 
gretted, when  our  Saviour  and  Judge's  voice  shall 
utter  those  dread  words,  "  It  is  done."  So,  baring 
ourselves  more  and  more  of  all  unpleasing  unto 
Him,  shall  we,  with  less  sluggish  steps,  follow 
Him  who  emptied  Himself  of  all  which  was  His 
that  He  might  give  us  all.  Nor,  having  chosen  or 
wishing  to  choose  the  better  part,  think  we  that  it 
will  be  long  and  wearisome  to  do  without  this  or 
that ;  let  not  Satan  turn  or  hold  us  back  by  telling 
us  we  can  never  hold  on  so  long  without  this  or 
that ;  think  we  it  not  a  weary,  dreary  future  to 
wait  so  long  for  the  coming  of  the  Lord.  His 
coming  draweth  nigh  ;  with  each  decaying  year 
the  tokens  thicken  of  the  world's  decay,  the  closing 
strife,  the  coming  of  our  God. 

Whilst  the  careless  world  is  sleeping", 
Blest  the  servants  who  are  keeping 
Watch,  according  to  His  word, 
For  the  coming  of  their  Lord. 


158  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Heard  ye  not  your  Master's  warning  ? 
He  will  come  before  the  morning, 
Unexpected,  undescried ; 
Watch  ye  for  Him  open-eyed. 

Teach  us  so  to  watch,  Lord  Jesus 
From  the  sleep  of  sin  release  us ; 
Swift  to  hear  Thee  let  us  be  ; 
Meet  to  enter  in  with  Thee. 


LORD  Jesus  Christ,  who  hast  promised  to  come  again  in 
like  manner  as  Thou  didst  go  into  heaven  ;  we  pray  Thee 
to  hasten  the  time  of  Thine  advent,  that  sin  and  death  may 
be  overcome,  and  that  we,  with  all  Thy  faithful  departed, 
may  be  perfected  in  blessedness  in  that  day  when  Thou 
makest  up  Thy  jewels;  through  Thy  mercy  who  art  blessed 
and  livest  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost  one  God,  world 
without  end.    Amen. 


Jpalm  0tmtog 


And  they  that  went  before,  and  they  that  followed,  cried, 
saying,  Hosanna  ;  Blessed  is  He  that  conieth  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord. 

And  He  cometh,  and  findeth  them  sleeping,  and  saith 
unto  Peter,  Simon,  sleepest  thou  ?  Couldest  not  thou  watch 
one  hour  ? 

It  was  less  than  five  days  after  the  immense 
popular  excitement  which  drew  the  multitudes  of 
city  and  country  into  a  jubilant  procession  of  wel- 
come and  honor,  with  palms  and  garments  strewn 
in  the  road,  to  greet  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth,  con- 
ducting Him  to  the  gates  of  Jerusalem,  that  He 
knelt  down  on  the  bare  ground  in  the  garden,  a 
lonely  sufferer,  struggling  with  a  secret  agony,  in 
which  a  sense  of  utter  desertion  and  desolation  was 
one  of  the  bitterest  elements ;  no  sound  breaking 
the  silence  but  His  groans. 

The  spot  must  have  been  almost  the  same ;  for 


160  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

the  rocky  path  by  which  the  swelling  multitude 
wound  over  the  mount  from  Bethany  to  the  tem- 
ple, and  this  shady  orchard  of  Gethsemane,  were 
both  just  east  of  the  city  gates.  Was  there  ever, 
then,  in  the  Bible  or  in  history,  a  more  pathetic 
illustration  of  the  difference  between  a  piety  of 
mere  fashion  and  feeling  on  the  one  hand,  and  a 
faith  of  solid  principle,  rooted  in  real  convictions, 
equal  to  all  shocks,  surviving  all  trials  and  changes, 
on  the  other?  Here,  at  the  garden,  the  artificial 
stimulants  have  ceased  to  act ;  the  pageant  has 
passed ;  the  crowd  is  scattered  ;  the  fascination  of 
popularity  has  waned ;  and  so  the  very  friends 
and  Apostles  of  the  holy  Sufferer  lose  their  inter- 
est ;  they  sleep  with  the  sleeping  world  when  they 
ought  to  watch  and  pray.  How  fearful  is  that 
power  of  outside  show  and  custom  which  can  outdo 
the  heart's  own  affection  and  faith  !  How  fearful 
is  the  vieakness  of  inward  principle  which  yields  up 
its  vigilance  and  trust  when  the  moment  of  social 
excitement  has  gone  by  ! 

The  palm-branches,  and  the  slumberers;  the 
shouted  hosannas,  and  the  heavy  eyes, — we  see  in 
them,  by  contrast,  the  religion  of  impulse  and  the 
religion  of  principle. 


PALM  SUNDAY.  161 

Sometimes  there  is  an  apparent  beginning  of 
Christian  zeal  and  Christian  action  in  the  exhilarat- 
ing contagion  of  social  example.  It  is  a  time  per- 
haps of  unusual  manifestations  of  religious  fervor. 
The  air  seems  to  be  charged  with  a  kind  of  spirit- 
ual electricity, — an  excellent  tonic  if  rightly  mixed 
with  the  more  stable  and  nutritious  elements  that 
sustain  vitality.  All  the  frame  glows  and  kindles 
under  it.  Many  are  coming  to  Confirmation  and 
Communion, — why  not  I  ?  It  looks  now  as  if  it 
would  be  no  very  difficult  matter  to  breathe  ecstatic 
breath  as  daily  air ;  easy  enough,  while  that  novel 
excitement,  roused  by  agitating  preaching  or  ex- 
traordinary measures,  continues  to  pull  off  the  gar- 
ments of  reserve  or  hesitation  and  strew  them  in 
the  Lord's  way ;  easy  enough  to  practise  jubilee 
discipline  while  all  the  ardent  family  do  it;  easy 
enough  to  rank  with  the  anxious,  and  to  relate  an 
experience,  when  a  sacred  fanaticism  stirs  a  multi- 
tude. Why  not  move  with  the  moving  procession  % 
Yes ;  it  is  well  to  move,  and  to  be  moved.  Only 
the  test  is  coming, — the  trial- night  of  Gethsemane, 
— solitude,  temptation,  watchfulness,  unnoticed 
and  unapplauded  sacrifices.  Be  sure  here  is  some- 
thing more  than  surface-feeling,  set  awake  by  cus 
11 


162  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

torn  or  animal  stimulus ;  something  more  tlian 
impulse ;  it  is  good,  honest,  sober,  considerate, 
patient  principle,  stayed  up  by  prayer,  that  alone 
can  remain  awake  and  outwatch  the  stars,  and  wait 
through  the  darkness,  and  conquer  temptation,  and 
do  it  all  for  the  honor  of  the  suffering  and  bleeding 
Master.  It  is  only  this  that  proves  that  we  are 
really  Christians,  or  that  Christ  is  ours. 

The  palm-strewing  and  shouting  multitude  were 
not  deliberate  hypocrites ;  the  pharisees  stayed  at 
home  and  washed  their  platters.  But  none  the  less 
was  the  homage  vain  ;  and  it  is  no  wonder  if  the 
Saviour,  who  saw  its  emptiness — and  how  deep 
was  that  emptiness ! — wept  in  the  midst  of  it.  He 
foresaw  Gethsemane  on  the  eve  of  the  Passover, 
the  slumberers  there,  the  closed  eyes,  the  weak 
flesh,  the  denial,  the  judgment-hall,  the  cross. 
And  now,  would  we  not  find  the  same  sorrow  on 
His  face  if  we  beheld  Him  looking  on  many  of  our 
thin  and  frivolous  usages  of  popular  confession  and 
discipleship, — "  the  form  of  godliness  without  the 
power  thereof  ? " 

Yes,  there  is  a  dull  insensibility  to  a  Benefactor's 
anguish,  there  is  a  sleepy  indifference  to  a  Saviour's 
work,  which  is  nothing  less  than  cruelty.     Many 


PALM    SUNDAY.  1G3 

of  us  would  rather  our  enemies  should  sharpen 
the  spear,  or  drive  thorns  into  our  foreheads,  than 
that  our  friends  should  shut  their  eyes  and  deny 
their  sympathy 'to  our  pain.  "We  give  Christ  noth- 
ing unless  we  give  Him  our  hearts. 

Take  away  from  our  prevailing  religious  obser- 
vances, even  in  our  more  solemn  seasons,  all  that  is 
wholly  a  deference  to  decent  social  standards  and 
conventional  Christianity,  all  that  is  formal  repeti- 
tion and  going  with  the  multitude;  empty  the 
sanctuaries  of  all  worshippers  who  come,  not  for 
Christ's  sake,  but  because  others  come ;  take  down, 
stone  by  stone,  and  timber  by  timber,  all  the  tem- 
ples that  were  built  up  by  vanity,  or  competition, 
or  a  dead  compliance  with  a  kind  of  external  law ; 
arrest  and  extinguish  all  professedly  Christian 
charities  that  are  carried  on  by  pride,  emulation, 
ostentation,  and  self-will,  wTith  only  a  feeble  mixture 
of  nobler  and  purer  motives  ;  take  out  of  the  char- 
ity to  Christ's  poor  all  that  is  put  there  by  a  sort 
of  holiday  benevolence;  sift  our  customs  by  this 
fan  in  the  hands  of  some  searching  John  Baptist 
or  the  mightier  Judge  that  comes  after  him,  and 
we  shall  see  why  the  Palm-Sunday  story  is  put  into 
the  Gospels,  and  why  it  stands  here  with  a  warning 


164  HELPS  TO  A  HOLT  LENT. 

note  of  examination  on  the  threshold  of  Holy 
"Week.  "We  there  see,  perhaps,  how  unfit  we  our- 
selves are  to  go  down  into  the  deep  life,  sorrow, 
loneliness,  and  agony  of  Gethsemane,  to  watch  and 
pray  there  with  the  awful  tortures  of  the  Man  of 
Sorrows,  to  see  the  angel  from  heaven  strengthen- 
ing Him,  and  to  pass  thence,  faithfully  at  His  side, 
to  the  trial,  the  buffeting,  and  the  mournful  Mount 
of  Calvary. 

The  rocky  path  still  climbs  the  glowing  steep 

Of  Olivet: 
Though  rains  of  two  millenniums  wear  it  deep, 

Men  tread  it  yet. 

These  ways  were  strewed  with  garments  once  and  palm, 

Which  we  tread  thus  : 
Here,  through  Thy  triumph,  on  thou  passedst  calm, — 

On  to  Thy  Cross. 

Man  has  not  changed  them  in  that  slumbering  land, 

Nor  time  effaced : 
Where  Thy  feet  trod  to  bless,  we  still  may  stand, — 

All  can  be  traced. 

Yet  we  have  traces  of  Thy  footsteps  far 

Truer  than  these ; 
Where'er  the  poor,  and  tried,  and  suffering  are, 

Thy  steps  faith  sees. 


PALM    SUNDAY.  165 

And  now  whenever  meets  Thy  lowliest  band, 

In  praise  and  prayer, 
There  is  Thy  presence,  there  Thy  Holy  Hand, 

Thou,  Lord,  art  there  ! 

OGOD  of  wonderful  goodness  and  power,  who  by  Thy 
words  and  works  dost  command  us,  though  unworthy 
servants,  to  hope  for  true  and  everlasting  blessings  in  Thee, 
and  from  Thee;  grant  unto  us  Thy  servants  such  fervent 
hope  in  Thee  as  may  rouse  us  to  make  our  calling  and  election 
sure.  In  Thee,  O  Lord,  have  we  trusted,  let  us  never  be  con- 
founded ;  through  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour. 
Amen, 


Jftott&ctB  in  J§o1b  fcOeek. 


in 


And  seeing  a  fig-tree  afar  off  having  leaves,  He  came,  if 
haply  He  might  find  anything  thereon :  and  when  He  came 
to  it,  He  found  nothing  but  leaves ;  for  the  time  of  figs  was 
not  yet.  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  it,  No  man  eat 
fruit  of  thee  for  ever.  And  Jesus  went  into  the  temple,  and 
began  to  cast  out  them  that  sold  and  bought  in  the  temple, 
and  overthrew  the  tables  of  the  money-changers,  and  the  seats 
of  them  that  sold  doves.  And  he  taught,  saying  unto  them, 
My  house  shall  be  called  of  all  nations  the  house  of  prayer, 
but  ye  have  made  it  a  den  of  thieves. 

It  is  not  anywhere  expressly  announced  in  the 
New  Testament,  but  it  is  a  fact  strikingly  em- 
bodied in  the  very  structure  of  its  contents,  that 
while  the  four  Evangelists  are  so  guided  by  the 
Spirit  which  inspires  them,  that  the  narrative  or 
assertion  of  one  or  two  of  them  is  deemed  sufficient 
in  authority  and  fulness  for  giving  us  most  of  the 
events  and  discourses  in  our  Saviour's  ministry, 
yet  they  must  all  alike  pause  and  dwell  in  minute 


MONDAY    IN    HOLY    WEEK.  167 

detail,  and  with,  reverential  particularity,  on  the 
august  incidents  which  immediately  precede,  ac- 
company, and  follow  His  last  suffering,  clustering 
around  the  Cross.  How  impressive  is  this  silent 
tribute  to  the  transcendent  majesty  and  the  su- 
preme efficacy  of  His  Passion  above  all  His  words 
and  other  acts  in  the  redemption  of  the  world ! 
Because  every  man's  first  want  is  reconciliation, 
atonement,  and  forgiveness  for  sin,  every  possible 
mark  of  historical  certainty,  and  every  seal  of 
authenticity,  must  be  set  on  the  recital  of  that 
Divine  miracle.  The  story  bears  the  stamp  of  a 
fourfold  verification.  ~No  repetition  can  be  weari- 
some or  superfluous  in  descriptions  so  fraught  as 
these  are  with  the  intense  and  personal  interest 
of  our  own  deliverance  from  death  into  life.  It 
is  therefore  wisely  appointed  by  the  Church  that, 
from  the  first  day  of  Holy  Week  on,  we  shall  read 
over'  and  over  the  several  records  of  these  four 
Evangelists,  holding  before  us  all  the  manifold 
touches  and  colorings  given  to  the  solemn  por- 
traiture by  the  individual  witnesses  and  historians, 
till  every  essential  feature  is  engraven  on  the  be- 
lieving heart,  and  our  souls  are  steeped  in  the 
spirit  and  power  of  the  scene.     And  now,  as  to- 


168  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

day  we  stand  looking  toward  Calvary,  where  the 
one  great  consummation  is  reached  and  finished, 
in  which,  whether  as  Messiah  or  God-man  or  Re- 
deemer or  the  loving  and  obedient  Son,  He  suffers 
to  give  us  peace,  and  bleeds  to  make  us  clean,  and 
dies  once  that  we  may  live  forever,  so  we  see  the 
four  evangelic  witnesses  each  bringing  his  own 
separate  evidence  and  contribution  to  assure  the 
believer  and  to  glorify  the  Cross,  as  in  turn  they 
all  take  their  glory  from  it.  "  The  fulfilment  of 
type  and  shadow,  of  the  hopes  of  patriarchs,  of  the 
expectations  of  prophets,  yes,  and  of  the  dim  long- 
ings of  a  whole  lost  and  wicked  world,  must  be 
declared  by  the  whole  evangelistic  company ;  the 
four  streams  that  go  forth  to  water  the  earth  must 
here  meet  in  a  common  channel ;  the  four  winds 
of  the  Spirit  of  Life  must  here  be  united  in  one." 

We  will  turn  now  a  moment  to  the  chief  occur- 
rences which  give  a  special  and  individual  charac- 
ter to  this  second  day  of  the  great  Week. 

The  evening  before — the  excitement  of  the  palm 
procession  and  the  triumphal  reception  being  over 
— as  He  was  starting  on  His  return  to  Bethany 
after  this  wearisome  pageant,  "  Jesus  entered  the 
temple  and  looked  round  about  upon  all  things." 


MONDAY    IN    HOLY   WEEK.  169 

The  words  are  few  and  simple ;  but  the  hush  of  a 
very  deep  and  awful  veneration  falls  on  our  minds 
as  we  even  partially  conceive  what  the  thoughts 
were  that  must  have  accompanied  that  look,  what 
events  were  impending,  and  what  shadows  were 
gathering.  The  morning  explained  this  silent  in- 
spection of  the  courts  of  His  Father's  house.  As 
once  near  the  beginning,  so  here  at  the  close  of 
His  great  work  of  life,  the  Son  of  God  cleanses 
His  Father's  house,  with  holy  and  indignant  zeal, 
of  its  secular  profanations.  What  does  the  purify- 
ing mean  ?  It  means  that  every  true,  right  work 
in  this  world  must  begin  and  end  with  the  rever- 
ent acknowledgment  of  God  our  Father  ;  it  means 
that  in  every  Christian  life,  of  man  or  woman, 
youth  or  child,  large  and  clean  and  unobstructed 
place  must  be  made  for  prayer  ;  it  means  that  busi- 
ness must  be  marked  off  from  worship  with  a  fully 
drawn  and  definite  line,  not  suffered  under  any 
pretext  or  apology  to  take  more  than  its  share  of 
time  or  thought,  or  to  intrude  into  the  sanctuary, 
or  to  do  what  is  just  as  bad, — hold  men  out  of  the 
sanctuary.  And  this  line  is  not  one  that  shall 
prevent  the  influences  of  the  sanctuary  and  the 
power  of  the  Gospel   from  passing  out  to  hallow 


170  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

all  the  world  and  sanctify  all  work,  but  one  that 
shall  save  God's  public  name  and  ordinances  from 
being  swallowed  up  and  defiled  in  the  extortions 
of  Mammon.  It  means  that  neither  outwardly,  in 
sordid  acts,  nor  inwardly,  in  selfish,  exclusive,  un- 
charitable dispositions,  are  we  to  make  our  Father's 
house  a  house  of  merchandise.  And  let  us  not  for- 
get that  there  is  a  spiritual  and  real  sense  in  which 
the  whole  world  of  our  life  is  our  Father's  house. 

And  then,  as  in  the  whole  spirit  of  our  Christian 
faith,  the  labors  of  a  practical  and  merciful  right- 
eousness follow  close  and  certainly  after  the  prayers 
and  praises  of  church  or  chapel  or  closet,  so  here 
in  the  example  of  our  Lord's  humility :  no  sooner 
had  He  asserted  the  necessity  and  sacredness  of  the 
ordinances  of  worship  and  sacrifice,  than  "  the  blind 
and  the  lame  came  to  Him  in  the  temple,  and  He 
healed  them."  How  long  will  it  be,  after  our  feet 
bear  us  out  of  the  temple  doors,  before  some  sick 
relative  or  neighbor,  some  blind  heart,  some  lame 
soul,  will  require  our  patient  and  cheerful  minis- 
tration, and  so  put  to  the  proof  the  worth  of  these 
sacrifices  of  the  lips  ? 

It  was  the  same  day  that,  as  He  was  walking 
toward  the  city,  the  demands  of  that  hunger  which 


MONDAY   IN    HOLY    WEEK.  171 

again  makes  us  see  how  thoroughly  mortal  His 
mortal  nature  was,  directed  the  attention  of  His  dis- 
ciples to  the  fig-tree — which,  although  the  time  of 
figs  v:as  not  yet,  held  out,  by  its  unusual  flourish 
of  premature  and  leafy  pretension,  a  promise  of 
refreshment — the  mortifying  symbol  of  how  many 
human  figures  all  about  us,  whose  only  sign  of  life 
is  the  parade  and  rattle  of  their  barren  profession  ! 
Most  reasonably  is  it  asked,  "  Why  marvel  we  that 
like  the  watered  earth  that  bringeth  not  forth 
herbs  meet  lor  the  use  of  man,  but  beareth  only 
thorns  and  briers,  that  emblematic  tree  was  now 
nigh  unto  cursing,  and  that  its  end  was  to  be 
burned  ?  The  dews  of  heaven  had  fallen  upon  it, 
the  sunlight  had  fostered  it,  the  sheltering  hill- 
side had  protected  it,  all  seasonable  influences  had 
ministered  to  it,  and  all  had  been  utterly  in  vain  ; 
the  issue  was  a  barrenness  that  told  not  only  of  frus- 
trated but  of  perverted  influences ;  gifts  from  the 
God  of  nature  received  only  to  issue  forth  in  un- 
profitable and  deceptive  produce ;  not  in  the  fruit 
of  His  appointment,  but  in  nothing  but  unseason- 
able leaves."  Before  the  day  ended,  there  was  to 
be  another  tribute, — welcome  always  to  the  Shep- 
herd and  Saviour  of  the  yqung,  in  the  music  of 


172  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

their  spontaneous  singing.  There  were  children 
crying  in  the  temple  for  Him  that  purified  both  its 
rooms  and  their  breasts, — "  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of 
David."  It  must  have  been  an  inspiration  from 
above  that  touched  their  lips  and  their  eyes.  Jesus 
called  it  the  perfecting  of  praise,  as  David  himself 
prophetically  had  called  it.  Their  chant  must 
have  rested  Him,  amidst  the  scowls  and  gibings  of 
the  scribes  and  pharisees. 

This  night  our  Blessed  Master  comes  not  to 
Bethany,  but  to  us.  Know  ye  not  that  ye  are  the 
temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost?  '  Is  it  with  sadness 
that  He  looks  round  about  upon  that  hidden  sanc- 
tuary ?  What  does  He  see  in  its  open  courts — in 
its  hidden  chambers  ?  Is  it  the  house  of  prayer  ? 
and  of  what  further  sacrilege  does  it  need  yet  to 
be  purged  %  and  what  will  the  scourge  of  knotted 
cords  be  that  must  purge  it  ? 

The  trees,  too,  are  here.  The  Lord  comes  to- 
day to  these, — hungering  still  for  our  love  and  our 
service  and  our  holiness.  "What  more  can  He  do,  as 
the  prophet  asks,  to  make  them  fruit-bearing,  that 
He  hath  not  done  ?  Are  there  leaves  only  ?  and 
if  there  is  some  fruit,  is  it  pinched,  bitter,  boasted 
of  ?     Or  is  it  fruit  that  He  will  gather  and  keep  ? 


MONDAY   IN    HOLT  WEEK.  173 

Nothing  but  leaves ;  the  Spirit  grieves 

Over  a  wasted  life  ; 
Sin  committed  while  conscience  slept, 
Promises  made  but  never  kept, 

Hatred,  battle,  and  strife  ; 
Nothing  but  leaves ! 

Nothing  but  leaves  ;  no  garnered  sheaves 

Of  life's  fair,  ripened  grain  ; 
Words,  idle  words,  for  earnest  deeds  ; 
We  sow  our  seeds, — lo  !  tares  and  weeds  ; 

We  reap  with  toil  and  pain 
Nothing  but  leaves  1 

OHOLY  and  merciful  Saviour,  Thou  most  worthy  Judge 
Eternal,  who  as  on  this  day  didst  curse  the  fig-tree  bear- 
ing leaves  and  not  fruit,  take  away  from  me  all  hollow,  vain, 
and  false  show,  and  make  me  plenteously  to  bring  forth  the 
fruit  of  good  works,  and  of  Thee  to  be  plenteously  rewarded, 
through  Thy  merits,  who  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost 
livest  and  reignest  ever  one  God,  world  without  end.    Amen. 


Staes&ati  in  §olg  lOeek. 


\6 


And  in  the  daytime  He  was  teaching  in  the  temple ;  and 
at  night  He  went  out,  and  abode  in  the  mount  that  is  called 
the  Mount  of  Olives.  And  all  the  people  came  early  in  the 
morning  to  Him  in  the  temple,  for  to  hear  Him. 

Then  Jesus  said  unto  them,  Yet  a  little  while  is  the  light 
with  you.  Walk  while  ye  have  the  light,  Test  darkness  come 
upon  you :  for  he  that  walketh  in  darkness  knoweth  not 
whither  he  goeth.  While  ye  have  light,  believe  in  the  light, 
that  ye  may  be  the  children  of  light.  These  things  spake 
Jesus,  and  departed,  and  did  hide  Himself  from  them. 

Drawing  nearer  to  the  Mount  of  Sacrifice,  we 
find  it  was  on  the  third  day  of  the  great  Week  that 
Christ  said  so  much  in  His  solemn  conversations 
and  parables  of  the  assaults  of  our  spiritual  ene- 
mies. These  powers  of  darkness,  represented  in 
the  selfishness,  pride,  and  malice  of  the  influential 
class  at  Jerusalem,  seeing  that  their  time  was  short, 
arrayed  this  morning  all  their  craft  and  mustered 


TUESDAY   IX    nOLY   WEEK.  175 

all  their  forces.  "  Is  it  lawful  to  give  tribute  unto 
Caesar  or  not  ? "  Caesar  stood  then  for  all  the 
power  of  this  world, — for  the  Empire  and  Rome. 
"Render  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's." 
Have  you  ever  taken  pains  to  think  how  much 
ground  of  your  heart  and  your  life  that  covers? 
What  are  these  "  things  that  are  God's  ? "  What 
share  has  He ;  what  rights  of  ownership,  creation, 
preservation ;  what  title,  what  claims,  in  your  bodily 
strength,  in  your  time,  in  your  real  or  personal 
estate,  in  your  mind  and  its  education,  in  your 
tongue  and  its  speech,  in  your  business  and  its 
profits,  in  your  social  influence  and  its  motives,  in 
your  home-happiness  and  the  fruits  of  it?  In  your 
habitual  way  of  estimating  these  things,  and  talk- 
ing about  them,  do  you  treat  them  as  His,  in  any 
sense, — His  so  as  to  be  used  for  Him, — His  to  be 
left  with  you  or  taken  away  from  you  as  may  be 
His  perfect  will, — His  to  be  accounted  for  to  Him  ? 
oris  it  the  habit  of  your  mind  to  regard  them  all  as 
your  own,  in  some  exclusive  and  self-gratifying 
way,  as  if  your  rights  in  them  would  never  be 
invaded, — as  if  no  hand  but  yours  could  be  laid 
upon  them  ?  Take  any  one  of  your  most  precious 
possessions ;  set  it  before  you  in  the  solemnity  of 


176  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

your  hour  of  solemn  communion  with  your  Maker 
and  Judge ;  put  this  question :  What  are  the 
things  of  God .  in  relation  to  this  my  child  and  his 
training  for  eternal  life  %  What  are  the  things  of 
God  in  my  e  very-day  employment ;  in  my  conduct 
toward  my  family ;  in  my  amusements ;  in  my 
very  dress  and  manners  and  food  and  drink? 
What  are  God's  claims  here  ?  What  change  would 
come  over  my  practices  and  my  actions  here  if  I 
could  say,  truly,  Such  is  my  hunger  and  thirst 
after  holiness,  it  is  my  meat  and  drink  to  do  the 
will  of  God  ? 

In  the  same  day,  as  He  walked  the  courts  of  the 
temple  which  He  had  cleansed  of  its  profanations, 
Jesus  saw  the  rich  casting  their  ostentatious  gifts 
into  the  treasury,  and  a  poor  widow  laying  all  that 
she  had  at  the  feet  of  Him  who  gives  us  all  that 
we  have.  She  had  found  out  how  to  render  unto 
God  the  things  that  are  God's,  not  stinting  herself 
to  those  offerings  which  cost  her  nothing.  As  she 
drew  back  her  empty  hand,  and  went  away  to  toil 
for  more,  what  countless  riches  Christ  poured  into 
her  everlasting  keeping, — "  She  hath  cast  in  more 
than  they  all."  New  measurements,  new  stand- 
ards of  value,  new  reckonings  of  much  and  little, 


TUESDAY    IN    HOLY    WEEK.  177 

high  and  low,  humble  and  exalted,  strong  and 
weak,  the  Gospel  brings.  The  first  shall  be  last, 
and  the  last  first.  It  was  so  not  then  only,  but  it 
is  so  in  all  temples,  it  is  so  in  all  lands,  it  is  so  in 
every  branch  of  the  Church. 

The  censer  swung  by  the  proud  hand  of  merit 

Fumes  with  a  fire  abhorred  ; 
While  faith's  two  mites,  dropped  covertly,  inherit 

A  blessing  from  the  Lord. 

Even  on  earth  the  eyes  of  man  are  not  so  wholly 
discolored  as  not  to  see  this  superior  spiritual 
beauty.  As  with  the  Mary  that  we  read  of  in  the 
Gospel  yesterday,  whose  unpretending  offering  of 
ointment  at  Christ's  feet  was  only  a  waste  in  the 
cold  calculation  of  the  thrifty  bystanders,  so  a 
woman's  profounder  economy  of  simple  affection 
and  trust,  making  self  poor  for  Jesus'  sake,  goes  out 
as  a  perfume  through  the  earth ;  and  wheresoever 
the  Gospel  of  the  Cross  is  preached,  her  deed  is  a 
part  of  its  story  of  self-renunciation.  As  the  Holy 
Weeks  come  round,  do  they  find  us  any  nearer  to 
the  measure  of  devotion  that  the  Saviour  accepted 
and  blessed  ? 

As  the  same  day  wears  on,  some  Greeks — pros- 
12 


178  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

elytes  to  Judaism — that  had  come  np  to  Jesus, 
with  the  characteristic  curiosity  of  the  Greek  intel- 
lect, hearing  the  rumors  of  this  new  Nazarene  Phi- 
losopher— as  they  doubtless  esteemed  Him — speak 
words  that  beautifully  utter  our  deepest  need,  in 
spite  of  all  the  intellectual  culture  and  refine- 
ment and  strength  in  the  world, — the  cry  of  sin: 
"  Sir  !  we  would  see  Jesus  !  "  Beholding  in  this 
confession  the  sign  and  prophecy  of  the  final  vic- 
tory of  His  cause,  Christ  exclaims  that  the  hour  is 
come  when  the  Son  of  Man  should  be  glorified. 
But  instantly  the  remembrance  of  the  Cross,  which 
tinges  every  moment,  rises  in  His  mind.  Faithful 
as  ever,  though  it  may  discourage  and  repel  the 
questioners,  He  fearlessly  announces  that  only 
through  the  unsightliness  of  death  can  His  true 
kingdom  unfold  itself,  and  the  Tree,  whose  leaves 
are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations,  fill  the  earth. 
"  Except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and 
die,  it  abideth  alone :  but  if  it  die,  it  bringeth  forth 
much  fruit.  He  that  loveth  His  life  shall  lose  it ; 
if  any  man  serve  Me,  him  will  My  Father  honor." 
Other  momentous  acts  and  words  were  crowded 
into  this  full  day ;  the  reply  that  disarmed  the 
doubts  of  the  Sadducees ;  the  announcement  to  the 


TUESDAY    IN    HOLY    WEEK.  179 

shallow  scribe  of  the  one  great  commandment ;  the 
rebukes  of  the  pharisees  for  inconsistent  and  self- 
seeking  dogmas ;  and  those  most  penetrating  para- 
bles, like  that  of  the  Ten  Virgin s,  which  show  us 
the  shortness  of  the  time,  the  greatness  of  the 
work,  the  blessed  bridal  welcome  of  those  that 
enter  with  burning  lamps,  and  the  shutting  of  the 
door. 

But,  before  the  night  falls,  there  is  one  august 
scene  more.  Many  generations  before,  the  prophet 
Zechariah,  foretelling  the  final  coming  and  judg- 
ment, for  which  the  world  is  still  looking,  saw  the 
curtain  lifted,  and  wrote  thus :  "  His  feet  shall  stand 
in  that  day  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives,  which  is 
before  Jerusalem  on  the  east."  Now,  in  most  un- 
foreseen coincidence,  as  the  evening  shadows  gather, 
the  Messiah  moves  out  of  the  city  eastward,  and, 
His  feet  standing  on  that  very  spot  of  Olivet,  He 
declares  to  the  ages  that  one  solemn  prediction 
which  should  always  keep  them  in  expectation  of 
His  reappearing,  ending,  "  Then  shall  they  see  the 
Son  of  Man  coming  with  power  and  great  glory ; 
and  He  shall  send  His  angels,  and  they  shall  gather 
together  His  elect  from  the  four  winds,  from  one 
end  of  heaven  to  the  other." 


180  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

How  it  comforts  our  hearts,  and  brings  our  Lord 
very  near  to  our  poor  human  feeling  and  weak- 
ness once  more,  after  these  awe-inspiring  wonders, 
to  read  that  at  the  end  of  the  day,  with  the  same 
earthly  air  breathing  on  His  forehead  that  refreshes 
our  weariness,  He  walks  out  with  His  disciples  to 
the  family  circle  and  home,  to  rest  with  those  that 
His  human  affection  loves  at  Bethany. 

Virgins  ten,  with  joyous  feet, 
Forth  the  Bridegroom  went  to  meet ; 
Wise  with  heavenly  wisdom,  five 
Kept  with  oil  their  lamps  alive  ; 
Five,  with  earth-born  folly  dim, 
Scorned  with  oil  their  lamps  to  trim. 

While  the  Bridegroom  yet  delayed, 
Slumber  bowed  each  virgin  head  ; 
Sudden  rose  the  midnight  cry, 
"  Lo  !  the  Bridegroom  draweth  nigh  ! " 
Rose  the  startled  virgin  train, 
Trimmed  their  dying  lamps  again. 

Vainly  now  for  oil  ye  cry  ; 
Foolish  virgins,  hence,  and  buy. 
Haste  the  five,  but  now  the  door 
Closes  on  them  evermore  ; 
And  a  voice,  that  stuns  each  heart, 
Crie'V  I  know  you  not,  depart. 


TUESDAY   IN    HOLT   WEEK.  181 

FIX,  0  Lord,  my  thoughts  and  my  desires  upon  heaven 
and  heavenly  things ;  teach  me  to  despise  the  world,  to 
repent  me  deeply  for  my  sins ;  give  me  holy  purposes  of 
amendment  and  Divine  strength  and  assistance  to  perforin 
faithfully  whatsoever  I  shall  intend  piously.  Enrich  my  un- 
derstanding with  an  eternal  treasure  of  Divine  truths,  that  I 
may  know  Thy  will,  and  that  Thou  workest  in  us  both  to 
will  and  to  do  of  Thy  good  pleasure.  Teach  me  to  obey  all 
Thy  commandments,  to  believe  all  Thy  revelations,  and  make 
me  a  partaker  of  all  Thy  gracious  promises,  for  Jesus  Christ's 
sake.    Amen. 


toe&nesbctg  in  Ijolg  toeek. 


6' 


And  the  first  day  of  unleavened  bread,  when  they  killed  the 
passover,  His  disciples  said  unto  Him,  Where  wilt  thou  that  we 
go  and  prepare  that  Thou  mayest  eat  the  passover  ? 

And  He  sendeth  forth  two  of  His  disciples,  and  saith  unto 
them,  Go  ye  into  the  city,  and  there  shall  meet  you  a  man 
bearing  a  pitcher  of  water :  follow  him,  and  wheresover  he 
shall  go  in,  say  ye  to  the  good  man  of  the  house,  The  Master 
saith,  Where  is  the  guest-chamber,  where  I  shall  eat  the 
passover  with  My  disciples  ?  And  he  will  show  you  a  large 
upper  room  furnished  and  prepared :  there  make  ready  for  us. 

In  the  narrative  of  the  Evangelists,  there  is  one 
sentence  that  falls  on  the  ear  with  the  startling  im- 
pression of  a  double  sense.  In  the  preparation  for 
the  Passover,  Jesus  sent  forward  St.  Peter  and  St. 
John,  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  to  an  unknown 
resident  there,  with  this  question,  "  The  Master  saith 
unto  thee,  Where  is  the  guest-chamber  where  I  shall 
eat  the  passover  with  My  disciples  ?  "  The  walls  of 
that  city  widen  out,  as  we  read,  to  the  width  of  the 


WEDNESDAY  IN  HOLY  WEEK.         183 

world.  Peter  and  John  are  only  the  messengers  of 
that  Word  which  has  gone  out  into  all  the  earth. 
The  Passover  is  the  spiritual  feast  of  the  Lord's 
presence  and  fellowship, — His  truth  and  faith, 
His  hope  and  charity.  And  who  is  the  man  bearing 
the  pitcher  of  water,  going  on  some  poor  common- 
place errand,  busy  with  some  narrow  business, 
plodding  along  a  routine  of  daily  work  which 
seems  to  be  altogether  of  the  earth,  earthy, — little 
mindful  who  is  at  hand,  and  what  a  glory  waiting 
at  his  door  ?  Who  is  he  but  you,  and  you,  one  and 
another  of  these  ordinary  half-awakened  people? 
Unto  thee  the  Master  saith,  "  Where  is  the  guest- 
chamber  where  I  shall  eat  the  passover  with  my 
disciples  ? "  It  is  a  personal  question.  It  is  a 
proposal  to  the  inner  life  of  us  all.  It  is  an  offer 
of  the  one  Infinite  Divine  blessing,  for,  in  receiv- 
ing the  Master,  Christ,  the  Son  of  Mary  and  the 
Son  of  God,  we  receive  all  the  real  good  there  is 
in  earth  and  heaven.  And  is  it  not  just  after  this 
manner  that  the  one  great  revelation  and  disclosure 
is  almost  always  made  to  us  that  we  can  be  privi- 
leged to  welcome  and  entertain  Him,  by  that  keen, 
real,  living  sense  of  which  the  best  name  is  faith  ? 
Is  it  not  apt  to  be  while  we  are  on  the  way  of  some 


184  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

familiar  duty,  in  some  path  that  we  did  not  strike 
out  for  any  great  purpose,  that  the  messenger  of  God 
meets  us, — a  sharp  Providence  abrupt  as  Peter, 
or  a  breath  of  God's  loving  spirit  gentle  as  John  ? 
So,  if  now,  in  the  midst  of  our  Christian  heritage, 
some  of  us  find  our  feeling  too  dull,  our  prayers  too 
lifeless,  and  our  sense  of  things  divine  too  cold,  we 
may  be  sure  we  are  not  to  gain  the  livelier  feeling 
or  the  awakened  zeal  by  waiting  till  some  rare 
occasion  or  great  opportunity  shall  overtake  us.  It- 
will  come  when  we  are  in  the  common  lot  and 
about  common  labors.  AVe  are  to  expect  it  then, 
look  for  it  then,  make  ready  for  it  th'ere.  It  will 
come  not  so  much  by  our  going  to  a  new  place, 
a  new  set  of  circumstances,  or  looking  out  for  a 
propitious  season — for  these  are  very  apt  to  prove 
perverse,  and  disappoint  us  after  all — as  by  our 
opening  the  eyes  and  the  ears  of  our  hearts,  and, 
when  the  voice  speaks  to  us,  stopping  to  listen,  and, 
as  the  prophet  says,  standing  still  to  see  the  salva- 
tion of  God. 

"  Where  is  the  guest-chamber  where  I  shall  eat 
the  passover  ? "  the  Master  saith.  There  seems  to 
be  in  this  question  just  that  twofold  sound  of  invi- 
tation and  authority,  offer  and  command,  which  is 


WEDNESDAY    IN    HOLY    WEEK.  185 

always  to  be  found  in  the  word  of  the  Saviour 
when  He  proposes  to  take  up  His  abode  in  any  of 
our  hearts.  He  offers  to  come  in  if  we  will  suffer 
Him  ;  for  the  act  must  be  free.  He  commands  us 
to  suffer  Him,  because  he  has  a  right  there ;  the 
upper  chamber  is  His ;  and  though  faith  holds  the 
key  to  it,  we  cannot  keep  Him  out  without  diso- 
bedience to  Him,  and  guilt  and  misery  following. 
This  is  what  our  Christian  life — part  a  task  and  part 
a  delight,  part  duty  and  part  privilege,  part  drudg- 
ing and  part  festival,  part  of  law  and  part  of  grace 
— must  always  include,  the  proportions  of  the  ser- 
vice of  obligation  and  the  service  of  joy  constantly 
varying,  according  as  we  have  more  or  less  of  the 
Master's  own  spirit,  and  live  nearer  to  Him.  The 
man  bearing  the  pitcher  of  water  might  have  taken 
this  most  delicately  and  condescendingly  worded 
message  to  him  only  as  a  compulsory  requirement, 
and  have  gone  about  the  labor  of  opening  his  house 
to  these  strangers  as  an  irksome  necessity,  or  he 
might  hail  the  notice  sent  him  as  only  a  coveted 
permission,  and  so  have  sprung  to  seize  the  honor 
and  the  pleasure,  as  love  always  answers  to  the  call 
of  love.  There  is  this  radical,  deep  difference  be- 
tween our  two  kinds  of  compliance  with  our  Lord's 


18G  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

word.  It  is  plain  enough  with  the  householder 
which  would  be  the  true  hospitality,  so  with  all  of 
us  which  would  he  the  accepted  and  loyal  service, 
carrying  the  affections,  the  hands,  the  feet,  the  lips, 
the  offerings  of  time  and  money  cheerfully  with  it, 
and  making  the  Divine  Guest  truly  at  home  in  the 
guest-chamber  of  the  heart.  "  Thou  shalt  do 
well,"  says  a  very  devotional  and  saintly  writer  on 
the  Holy  Communion,  evidently  with  this  same 
image  in  his  thoughts,  "  to  imitate  the  example  of 
a  poor  countryman,  who,  understanding  that  the 
king  would  visit  his  house,  removed  all  things  that 
he  thought  might  offend  his  eyes,  did  very  dili- 
gently sweep  all  his  house,  and  although  he  could 
not  beautify  it  according  to  the  worthiness  of  such  a 
guest,  yet  did  as  much  as  ever  he  was  able  to  receive 
him  worthily.  What,  then,  wilt  thou  do  to  the  King 
of  kings,  who  loveth  but  to  impart  His  good  gifts 
unto  thee?  Labor,  therefore,  in  cleansing  and 
decking  thyself;  hanging  the  chamber  or  upper  room 
of  thy  best  devotions  with  the  tapestry  of  holiness, 
and  welcome  Him  with  love,  who  out  of  very  love 
hath  said,  My  delight  is  to  be  with  the  sons  of 
men." 

And  what  it  is  in  you  that  needs  to  be  put  out 


WEDNESDAY   IN    HOLT  WEEK.  1ST 

of  the  chamber,  before  Christ  can  be  worthily  re- 
ceived there,  it  is  not  for  any  mortal  tongue  to  tell, 
but  it  is  not  beyond  your  reach,  with  the  Bible, 
with  secret  prayer,  with  the  holy  and  helpful  ordi- 
nances of  the  Church,  to  know  full  well. 

He  cometh,  as  He  came  of  old, 

Suddenly  to  His  Father's  shrine  ; 
Into  the  hearts  He  died  to  make 

Meet  temples  for  His  grace  Divine. 

He  cometh,  as  the  Bridegroom  comes, 

Unto  the  feast  Himself  has  spread ; 
His  flesh  and  blood  the  heavenly  food 

Wherewith  the  wedding  guests  are  fed. 

He  cometh, — let  not  one  withdraw, 

Nor  fear  to  bring  repented  sin  ; 
There's  blood  to  wash,  there's  bread  to  feed, 

And  Christ  himself  to  enter  in. 

LORD,  I  am  not  worthy  that  Thou  shouldst  come  under  my 
roof,  yet  remember  that  Thou,  being  Lord  of  all,  didst 
take  upon  Thee  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  wast  the  friend  of 
publicans  and  sinners.  Let  that  humiliation  of  Thine,  I  pray 
Thee,  move  Thee  not  to  despise  me,  but  do  Thou  mercifully 
come  unto  me,  or  graciously  receive  me  coming  unto  Thee.  O 
Blessed  Lord,  kindle  such  a  holy  flame  in  my  heart  that  it 
may  consume  all  my  sins,  that  I  may  never  again  defile  the 


188  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

place  wliicli  Thou  liast  chosen  for  Thy  temple.  Give  me  time 
and  space  to  repent,  and  give  me  grace  that,  as  by  Thy  holy 
inspiration  I  do  sincerely  and  steadfastly  resolve  on  an  entire 
reformation,  so  by  Thy  merciful  guidance  I  may  perform  the 
same.    Amen. 


Jtlaimdg-Sbnrsbas. 


tf 


Then  cometb  Jesus  with  them  unto  a  place  called  Geth- 
semane,  and  saith  unto  the  disciples,  Sit  ye  here,  while  I  go 
and  pray  yonder.  And  He  took  with  Him  Peter  and  the  two 
sons  of  Zebedee,  and  began  to  be  sorrowful  and  very  heavy. 

And  He  said,  Abba,  Father,  all  things  are  possible  unto 
Thee  ;  take  away  this  cup  from  Me  :  nevertheless  not  what  I 
will,  but  what  Thou  wilt. 

And  there  appeared  an  angel  unto  Him  from  heaven, 
strengthening  Him.  And  being  in  an  agony  He  prayed  more 
earnestly,  and  His  sweat  was  as  it  were  great  drops  of  blood 
falling  down  to  the  ground. 

Christ  no  sooner  comes  to  the  garden  than  He 
takes  His  three  more  confidential  disciples,  sep- 
arates Himself  from  the  rest,  and  begins  to  be  sor- 
rowful and  very  heavy.  The  two  words  in  the 
original  text,  of  which  the  latter  is  more  emphatic 
than  the  former,  so  as  to  make  a  climax,  are  joined, 
for  the  sake  of  emphasis,  to  express  one  thought, 
together,  for  the  expression  of  which  either  word 
alone  would  have  been  too  weak.     This  condition 


190  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

of  our  Lord  the  disciples  first  inferred  from  His 
appearance,  but  soon  out  of  the  abundance  of  His 
depressed  heart  His  mouth  spake.  Unable  to  bear 
it  any  longer  alone,  He  said  unto  them  :  "  My 
soul" — my  very  soul,  as  we  should  say — "is  ex- 
ceeding sorrowful  " — surrounded  with  sorrow — 
"  even  unto  death."  Stronger  expressions  than 
these  do  not  exist  in  language,  and  exaggeration  is 
out  of  the  question  here.  Then,  seeing  them  weary 
and  sleepy,  He  adds :  "  Tarry  here," — do  not  re- 
turn to  the  others  to  sleep  ;  watch  with  Me  !  His 
strength  was  spent,  and  for  the  first  time  He  felt 
the  need  of  human  sympathy.  But  soon  finding 
even  their  company  burdensome,  He  tears  himself 
away  from  them,  about  a  stone's  cast,  to  pray  alone. 
Then  He  assumes  the  attitude  of  deepest  distress  ; 
He  falls  "  on  His  face "  and  pours  out  His  soul. 
Submission  He  finds  in  His  heart  while  praying, 
but  relief  He  finds  none.  Distressed,  He  returns 
to  His  disciples,  and  "  findeth  them  asleep."  And 
He  saith  unto  Peter:  "What!" — you  have  made 
such  professions  of  attachment  to  Me,  you  wanted 
to  die  for  Me — "  could  you  not  watch  with  Me  one 
hour  ?  "  Alas  !  He  pleads  for  one  hour's  sympathy 
and  assistance  from  His  weak  and  drowsy  follow- 


MAUNDY-THURSDAY.  191 

ers.  Oh,  how  destitute  must  He  have  felt  him- 
self! He  goes  the  second  time  to  pray  alone,  and 
finds  no  relief ;  He  returns  the  second  time  to  His 
disciples,  and  finds  no  sympathy.  Human  relief 
fails ;  God  remains  His  last  hope.  Moving  away 
once  more,  He  prostrates  himself  again, — and  now 
the  most  awful  struggle  for  life  begins.  And  being 
in  an  agony,  He  prayed  more  earnestly  ;  and  in  the 
cool  night  season,  while  prostrated  on  the  damp 
ground,  the  sweat  of  anguish  breaks  out  over  His 
whole  body  and  is  as  it  were  great  drops  of  blood 
falling  down  to  the  ground.  "  And  there  appeared 
an  angel  unto  Him  from  heaven,  strengthening 
Him." 

Such,  then,  was  His  frame  of  mind  that  no  ordi- 
nary means  did  suffice  to  relieve  Him ;  an  angel, 
with  an  express  message  and  peculiar  assurances, 
must  be  sent.  High  and  distinguished  honor,  in- 
deed, to  be  the  bearer  of  this  errand, — an  errand 
before  unheard  of  in  heaven  !  But  can  you  think 
of  anything  more  fit  to  impress  us  with  ideas  of 
the  most  awful — I  had  almost  said  unnatural — dis- 
tress than  the  need  of  a  messenger  from  heaven  to 
comfort  and  strengthen  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  lest 
His  distress  should  crush  Him  ? 


192  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

No  doubt  it  was  intended  by  a  holy  Providence, 
and  was  one  of  the  burdens  which  Christ  had  to 
bear  for  us,  that  He  suffered  destitute  of  all  human 
consolation.  It  does  seem  as  though  the  disciples 
had  been  providentially  given  up  to  the  most  stupe- 
fying influence  of  this  body  of  clay  to  disable  them 
to  afford  relief  to  their  Master  when  the  un mingled 
cup  of  suffering  was  to  be  drunk  to  the  bottom. 

Jesus  our  Saviour,  in  this  destitute  and  needy 
condition,  is  an  object  of  the  deepest  interest  and 
of  liveliest  gratitude  to  those  who  know  the  secret 
ways  of  God  with  His  children.  They  know  every 
particular  sacrifice  and  deprivation  of  Christ  is  like 
a  sown  seed,  from  which  rich  and  waving  harvests 
of  spiritual  consolation  are  continually  springing 
up  to  the  dear  little  flock  of  His  pasture.  Not  a 
prayer,  not  a  sigh,  not  a  tear  of  His,  but  it  procures 
for  them  some  heavenly  treat ;  and  His  fastings 
and  deprivations,  His  watchfulness,  weariness,  and 
exposures,  are  richly  decking  their  spiritual  table, 
and  draw  the  curtain  of  heavenly  peace  around  the 
defenceless  pillows  of  their  rest.  And  when,  in 
the  depth  of  anguish,  they  feel  the  soothing  influ- 
ences of  Christian  tenderness  and  sympathy,  and 
are  upheld  by  the  wrestling  intercessions  of  their 


MAUNDY-THURSDAY.  193 

beloved  in  Christ  Jesus, — when  they  are  carried 
safely  through  the  trying  hour  of  darkness  and  dis- 
tress by  the  faithful  prayers  of  their  watchful 
friends,  poured  forth  in  their  hearing  at  the 
throne  of  Grace, — ah  !  then  they  remember  with 
sweet  and  humble  gratitude  the  forsaken  Jesus  in 
the  garden,  and  a  connection  between  their  spirit- 
ual riches  and  comforts  and  His  destitution  be- 
comes clear  all  at  once  to  their  souls,  of  which  they 
had  no  conception,  perhaps,  while  in  health  of 
boclv  and  in  the  cheerful  vigor  of  heart  and  mind. 
They  rejoice  then  exceedingly,  with  a  joy  full  of 
glory,  that  ever  He  did  procure  such  sweet  com- 
forts for  their  distressed  souls ;  and  they  are  pre- 
pared to  give  Him  everlasting  thanks  for  every 
tear  He  dropped  upon  the  accursed  ground  of  this 
world.  Yet  they  are  careful,  too,  to  learn  the  im- 
portant lesson  of  Him,  when  lawful  earthly  con- 
solations and  sympathies  fail,  to  go  a  little  farther, 
and,  where  no  man  can  see  them,  or  overhear  their 
prayer,  to  fall  on  their  faces,  and,  with  naked  and 
unalloyed  faith  and  trust  in  God,  to  lean  upon  His 
almighty  arm  alone,  and  to  throw  themselves  with 
their  burden  down  at  His  feet,  there  to  live,  or 
there  to  die. 
13 


194  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Gloom v  garden,  on  thy  beds, 
Wash'd  by  Kedron's  water-pool, 

Grow  most  rank  and  bitter  weeds, — 
Think  on  these  my  soul,  my  soul ! 

Wouldst  thou  sin's  dominion  see  ? 

Call  to  mind  Gethsemane. 

Sins  against  a  holy  God  ; 

Sins  against  His  righteous  laws  ; 
Sins  against  His  love,  His  blood  ; 

Sins  against  His  name  and  cause  ; 
Sins  immense  as  is  the  sea  : 
Hide  me,  O  Gethsemane  ! 

OLORD  Jesus  Christ,  who  in  the  sorrow  of  Thy  soul  didst 
fall  down  upon  Thy  face  in  prayer,  give  us  grace  that 
we  likewise  in  all  our  sorrows  may  betake  ourselves  with 
humble  and  earnest  prayer  to  our  heavenly  Father  for  aid  and 
comfort  and  relief.  Hear  us,  O  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  for  Thy 
name's  sake,  who  livest  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost 
one  God,  world  without  end.     Amen. 


(&ooh~£i\hcm. 


And  when  they  were  come  to  the  place,  which  is  called 
Calvary,  there  they  crucified  Him,  and  the  malefactors,  one 
on  the  right  hand,  and  the  other  on  the  left. 

And  when  Jesus  had  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  He  said, 
Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend  My  spirit:  and  having 
said  thus,  He  gave  up  the  ghost. 

Now  when  the  centurion,  and  they  that  were  with  him 
watching  Jesus,  saw  the  earthquake,  and  those  things  that 
were  done,  they  feared  greatly,  saying,  Truly  this  was  the 
Son  of  God. 

Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay  down 
his  life  for  his  friends. 

We  draw  near  to  the  Mount  of  Sacrifice.  We 
stand,  nay,  we  kneel,  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross.  We 
come  there  now,  not  because  it  is  the  custom  of  a 
fast,  but  because  we  are  driven  thither  by  the  bur- 
den of  our  human  hearts, — our  need  of  reconcilia- 
tion by  suffering. 

Look  closely  at  this  want,  for  it  is  that  vital  spot 


196  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

in  all  humanity  where  sorrow  is  most  keen,  and 
where  relief  is  most  joyful.  The  sure  result  of  evil 
is  pain  ;  of  persistent  sin  is  death.  Hence  the  vol- 
untary surrender  to  pain,  pain  even  unto  the  body's 
death,  is  felt,  and  has  been  ever  felt,  to  be  the 
natural  expression  of  a  penitent  soul.  It  is  propi- 
tiation :  not  because  God  takes  pleasure  in  His 
children's  suffering,  but  because  that  is  the  soul's 
fitting  tribute  to  the  just  majesty  of  goodness  and 
the  holy  authority  of  Right.  Government  with- 
out penalty  is  gone,  and  all  its  blessed  protections 
are  dissolved.  Hence  the  honest  heart  cries  out  in 
its  shame  and  fear :  "  Let  me  suffer  for  my  sin." 
Suffering  for  it  there  must  be  somewhere ;  trans- 
gression is  a  costly  business ;  so  it  must  always  be 
and  always  look ;  right  must  stand  at  any  rate ;  law 
must  be  sacred,  or  all  is  gone ;  and  since  nothing 
is  so  dear  as  life,  and  blood  is  the  element  of  life, 
life  itself  must  be  surrendered,  and  "  without  the 
shedding  of  blood  is  no  remission." 

Take  the  next  step.  Just  because  this  life  is  so 
dear,  He  who  loves  us  infinitely,  and  to  whom  it 
is  dearer  than  to  us,  will  be  willing  to  lay  down 
for  us  His  own..  He  will  not  even  wait  for  our 
consent;  but  in  the  abundance  of  that  unspeakable 


GOOD-FRIDAY.  197 

compassion,  in  the  irresistible  freedom  of  that  good- 
ness, He  will  do  it  beforehand, — only  asking  of  us 
that  we  will  believe  He  has  done  it,  and,  accepting 
our  pardon,  be  drawn  by  that  faith  into  the  same 
self-sacrificing  spirit.  Herein  is  love  indeed.  Suf- 
fering for  our  peace  !  Sacrifice,  not  that  our  ser- 
vice may  profit  and  pay  Him,  but  that  our  trans- 
gression of  a  Perfect  Law  may  be  pardoned,  and 
the  noble  life  of  disinterested  goodness  may  be 
begotten  in  ourselves.  Before,  we  had  seen  God  as 
Creator,  Providence,  Ruler,  and  all  the  motives  to 
obedience  furnished  by  those  characters  had  been 
offered,  and  had  failed.  His  servants,  the  proph- 
ets, had  come,  and  come  often  in  vain.  But  now 
we  see  Him  in  the  new,  more  wondrous,  and  more 
gracious  character  of  Sacrifice.  The  last  proof  of 
tenderness  is  given.  "  Is  not  the  mystic  yearning 
of  love  expressed  in  words  most  purely  thus  :  '  Let 
Me  suffer  for  him  ? '  "  We  want  to  feel  that  our 
God  of  infinite  love  feels  that.  Calvary  is  the  full 
answer  to  that  want.  In  the  person  of  the  Son 
He  so  comes  down  among  us,  and  into  us,  as  to 
suffer  for  us.  We  have  a  High  Priest  that  can  be 
touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities, — nay, 
takes  those  infirmities  upon  Him,  bears  our  sick- 


198  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

nesses,  is  bruised  for  our  iniquities,  is  delivered  for 
our  offences,  dies  that  we  may  live.  All  the 
priestly  offices  are  fulfilled.  "  Herein  is  love ;  not 
that  we  loved  God,  but  that  God  loved  us,  and  sent 
His  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for  our  sins."  The 
atonement  by  Christ  becomes  the  inmost  and 
grandest  power  of  the  world.  It  is  the  one  pecu- 
liar, characteristic,  crowning,  glorious  truth  of  the 
Gospel. 

And  then  if  you  turn  from  what  it  does/br  us, 
as  a  redemption,  to  what  it  does  within  us,  as  an 
inspiration,  the  fruit  of  it  is  not  less  Divine.  For 
it  appeals  directly  to  what  is  noblest,  most  gener- 
ous, most  disinterested,  in  all  the  brave  affections 
and  aspirations  of  humanity.  It  rises  up  in  har- 
mony with,  and  surmounts  with  its  grandeur,  all 
the  heroic  and  martyr  sacrifices  of  mankind. 
Mechanical  and  mercantile  conceptions  of  salvation 
vanish  before  it.  Right  becomes  more  venerable  ; 
love,  more  lovely  ;  charity,  more  beautiful.  It  was 
of  charity  that  the  Saviour  suffered.  His  Cross 
teaches  us,  not  that  each  one  is  to  be  looking  out 
for  a  selfish  salvation,  but  that  self  is  to  be  forgot- 
ten  in  hearty  consecration  to  Him,  and  in  free  ser- 
vice to  our  brethren.     It  carries  us  clear  of  the  be- 


GOOD-FKIDAY.  19D 

Iittling  notions  of  escaping  hell  as  a  punishment  or 
earning  heaven  as  a  reward.  It  makes  the  lofty 
sentiment  of  gratitude  the  mainspring  of  piety ; 
faith,  the  pure  inspiration  of  righteousness ;  love, 
the  sacred  secret  of  beneficence.  We  learn  from 
the  Redeemer,  who  gave  Himself  for  us,  to  give 
ourselves  for  one  another.  We  take  up  that  Cross 
which  signifies  an  atoning  sacrifice,  a  voluntary, 
vicarious  humiliation,  a  making  of  no  reputation 
and  becoming  poor,  a  taking  of  the  form  of  a  ser- 
vant, and  being  made  an  offering  for  sin  for  others' 
sake.  Henceforth  we  abhor  sin  for  itself,  for  our 
brethren's  sake,  for  Christ's  sake,  and  not  merely 
for  its  penal  consequences.  We  love  goodness, 
and  are  loyal  to  it  for  itself;  not  merely  for  its 
wages.  We  not  only  "admire  philanthropy," 
but  we  "  love  men,"  as  those  for  whom  Christ  has 
been  willing  to  die.  We  cease  longing  for  rest, 
and  begin  to  have  joy  in  God,  in  the  "  spirit  of 
liberty,"  and  in  the  eternal  life  begun. 

This  is  what  is  meant  by  Christ  our  Priest.  This 
is  that  profound,  penitential,  sorrowing,  unutter- 
able want  in  human  souls  which  the  Redeemer 
meets,  and  which,  because  He  meets  it,  makes  the 
heart  that  is  thus  consciously  set  at  liberty  leap 


200  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

with  gratitude  and  gladness  to  join  the  praises 
which  give  blessing  and  honor  and  glory  to  Christ. 
It  will  not  be  for  any  of  us  to  say  there  is  no  need 
of  a  blessing  so  deep  and  a  joy  so  great.  You  may 
say  you  have  not  yet  felt  the  need  of  it ;  and  that 
— O  pity  of  God  ! — may  be  mournfully  true.  But 
close  by  you  is  some  heart  which  feels  that  beside 
this  want  and  its  bitterness -all  the  common  griefs 
of  mortality  are  trifles  of  the  air  :  the  want  of  rec- 
onciliation with  the  Father  in  heaven  ;  the  want 
of  an  assured  forgiveness ;  the  want  of  Christ  and 
Him  crucified.  Where  that  is  once  stirred  and 
alive — and  the  first  object  of  the  JSTew  Testament 
is  to  stir  it  and  make  it  alive,  because  that  is  the 
only  way  to  peace  and  power — there  you  find  a 
heart  that  only  one  word  of  earth  or  heaven  can 
reach.  You  may  tell  it  that  its  sorrow  is  all  need- 
less and  irrational,  that  all  we  have  to  do  in  this 
world  is  "  to  do  right,"  or  as  near  it  as  we  can  ; 
but  it  will  only  look  back  upon  you  with  speech- 
less wonder.  Do  right  ?  What  if,  with  the  strong- 
est of  apostles,  I  do  not  "  find  how  "  to  do  right  ? 
What  if  the  riojht  seems  to  me  too  high  and  holv  a 
thing,  and  too  far  off,  that  I  should  do  it  of  myself? 
What  if,  all  my  life  long,  by  doing  or  leaving  un- 


GOOD-FRIDAY.  201 

done,  I  have  come  all  too  terribly  short  even  of  the 
right  I  knew  ?  Then  let  me  have,  what  the  blessed, 
merciful  Gospel  gives  me,  a  Redeemer !  Let  me 
rest  my  heart  upon  the  Cross !  Take  not  away 
my  Lord ! 

I  thirst,  Thou  wounded  Lamb  of  God, 
To  wash  me  in  Thy  cleansing  blood, 
To  dwell  within  Thy  wounds  ;  then  pain 
Is  sweet,  and  life  or  death  is  gain. 

How  blest  are  they  who  still  abide 
Close  shelter'd  in  Thy  bleeding  side  ! 
Who  life  and  strength  from  Thee  derive, 
And  by  Thee  move,  and  in  Thee  live  ! 

What  are  our  works  but  sin  and  death, 
Till  Thou  Thy  quick'ning  spirit  breathe ! 
Thou  giv'st  the  power  Thy  grace  to  move  — 
0  wondrous  grace  !  O  boundless  love  1 

Ah,  Lord  !  enlarge  our  scanty  thought, 
To  know  the  wonders  Thou  hast  wrought  1 
Unloose  our  stammering  tongues,  to  tell 
Thy  love,  immense,  unsearchable  ! 

0  FATHER  of  mercies,  whose  blessed  Son  was  on  this  day 
crucified  for  us,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  to  bring  us  to 
Thee,  give  us  grace  we  beseech  Thee  to  look  in  faith  upon 
uhat  Cross,  and  to  crucify  ourselves  upon  it  to  every  sinful 


202  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

desire  and  unchristian  temper.  May  we  learn,  in  humble 
devotion  to  our  Master's  service,  to  take  up  our  cross  and  deny 
ourselves,  that  we  may  follow  Him.  And  grant  that  looking 
to  His  Passion  we  may  be  changed  to  His  image  as  by  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord,  that  all  carnal  affections  may  die  in  us,  and 
that  all  things  belonging  to  the  Spirit  may  live  and  grow  in 
us,  so  that  we,  being  buried  with  Christ  in  His  death,  may 
crucify  the  old  man  and  utterly  abolish  the  whole  body  of  sin ; 
through  the  same  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.    Amen. 


Omster-afrjm. 


So  they  went,  and  made  the  setmlchre  sure,  sealing  the 
stone,  and  setting  a  watch. 

And  the  women  also,  which  came  with  Him  from  Galilee, 
followed  after,  and  beheld  the  sepulchre,  and  how  his  body 
was  laid. 

And  they  returned,  and  prepared  spices  and  ointments  ;  and 
rested  the  Sabbath  day  according  to  the  commandment. 

Through  the  silence  that  falls,  the  night  after 
the  crucifixion,  on  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  through 
the  shadows  that  gather  about  the  slopes  of  the 
Mount  of  Olives  eastward  and  in  the  valley  of 
Kedron  between,  we  can  see  two  groups  of  watchers 
before  the  sepulchre  of  Jesus.  The  contrast  in 
their  characters,  purposes,  and  feelings,  as  toward 
the  blessed  and  royal  Figure  that  sleeps  within, 
furnishes  a  practical  theme  for  our  contemplation 
this  Easter-Even. 

The  chief  priests  and  pharisees  had  obtained  an 
order  from  the  Roman  procurator,  Pilate,  for  a 
guard   of  Roman  soldiers ;  and  "  they   went   and 


204  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

made  the  sepulchre  sure,  sealing  the  stone  and  set- 
ting a  watch."  The  object  was  not  to  protect  the 
place  where  the  lifeless  body  of  the  Best  Friend 
of  all  men,  the  greatest  of  all  hearts  that  ever  beat 
on  earth,  was  lying,  but  to  secure  and  vindicate 
their  murder.  Oh,  what  a  stupendous  fiction  and 
phantom  of  their  own  deluded  brain  it  was  that 
they  were  setting  these  armed  soldiers  to  keep! 
They  feared  that  the  disciples  would  come  to  steal 
the  blessed  body  away !  The  scheme  was  just  what 
the  ingenuity  of  the  intellect  is  apt  to  devise  where 
faith  is  shut  out.  The  arm  of  the  mightiest  military 
empire  on  earth  was  in  full  play,  but  it  was  weaker 
than  a  straw.  The  real  keepers  of  the  tomb  were 
angels  from  the  right-hand  of  another  throne.  But 
the  stone  was  sealed,  and  the  guards  paced  to  and 
fro  in  the  Paschal  moonlight,  and  did  their  best. 

Another  part  of  the  narrative  shows  us  a  different 
group, — "  And  there  was  Mary  Magdalene  and  the 
other  Mary,  sitting  over  against  the  sepulchre." 
Here  were  vigils  of  another  kind.  For  what  were 
these  waiting  and  watching  %  Only  for  some  further 
opportunity  of  service  ;  only  to  testify  with  further 
offices  of  tenderness  and  love  their  devotion  to  Iiim 
who  had  healed,  comforted,  and  saved  them.    They 


EASTER-EVEN.  205 

could  lean  no  longer  upon  the  living-  arm  of  the 
Beloved  One.  But  they  could  anoint  Him,  and 
once  more  let  their  tears  fall  on  His  feet.  They 
waited  till  the  Sabbath  should  he  past  for  this  ; 
waited  obediently ;  there  was  no  restless  running 
to  and  fro  in  the  weakness  of  unbelief;  no  agita- 
tion ;  no  loud  grief.  They  sat  still ;  they  watched 
the  eastern  sky  to  catch  the  first  pencil  of  the  dawn 
toward  Hebron  ;  their  look  turned  to  and  fro,  silent- 
ly, between  the  tomb  and  the  heavens.  "Weep- 
ing may  endure  for  a  night,  but  joy  cometh  in  the 
morning."  How  clear  and  full  their  expectation 
was  that  this  Third  Day  would  bring  back  life  to 
the  dead,  by  some  miracle  greater  than  any  they  had 
seen  done  by  Him,  we  are  not  told  and  cannot  know. 
This  we  know,  that  the  motive  of  their  watching 
was  a  trusting,  clinging,  reverential,  holy  love. 

The  two  groups  bring  strikingly  to  mind  the  two 
clauses  of  a  sentence  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Canti- 
cles,— "  Love  is  strong  as  death  ;  jealousy  is  cruel 
as  the  grave ; "  the  one  outlasts  and  out  watches 
death,  the  other  is  cruel  even  over  the  grave. 
We  can  hardly  help  finding  an  application  here 
for  the  adjoining  words  of  the  same  Bible-song : 
"  Thou  that  dwellest  in  the  gardens,  set  me  as  a 


20G  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

seal  upon  thine  heart,  as  a  seal  upon  thine  arm. 
Make  haste,  my  beloved,  be  thou  like  to  a  young 
hart  upon  the  mountains  of  spices.  Many  waters 
cannot  quench  love,  neither  can  the  floods  drown 
it."  May  we  not  say,  then,  there  are  two  kinds  of 
watching  set  before  us,  with  very  different  motives 
and  feelings  lying  under  them  and  prompting 
them  ?  One  will  be  the  watching  of  self-will,  pride, 
or  formality — Roman  self-will,  pharisaic  pride,  the 
scribe's  formality — all  of  one  selfish,  faithless 
spirit.  So  we  watch  and  so  we  work  when,  under 
the  show  of  protecting  the  right,  we  are  secretly 
contriving  for  and  indulging  ourselves.  So  we 
watch  when  we  let  the  world  become  our  tyrant, 
and  we  are  its  mercenaries  doing  its  bidding,  pacing 
to  and  fro  on  an  unhallowed  round  of  heartless 
frivolities,  or  surrendering  to  it  the  time,  strength, 
zeal,  which  we  know  belong  to  Him  who  died  for 
us  and  rose  again.  So  we  watch  when  we  are  in 
our  hearts  wishing  the  vigil  were  over,  or  are  glad 
to  escape  from  the  hour  and  place  of  prayer,  when 
we  tire  of  the  Church's  service,  or  of  the  Lenten  re- 
striction, or  of  the  Sabbatic  commandment,  or  of 
the  homely  work  that  must  be  done  for  the  least  of 
the  Lord's  children  if  it  is  to  be  done  for  Him. 


EASTER    EVJBN.  207 

But  we  would  rather  on  this  Easter  Even  join  our- 
selves to  the  other  company  of  watchers,  sitting  over 
against  the  sepulchre,  looking  for  the  first  occasion  to 
do  some  service  more  for  their  Master,  "  as  they  that 
watch  for  the  morning  ;  "  counting  it  a  part  of  our 
faith  in  Christ  to  try  to  be  like  Christ.  There  are 
sacrifices  of  luxury,  appearance,  or  comfort,  which  are 
to  our  Saviour's  honor  what  the  ointments  of  spices 
were  to  his  body  in  the  sepulchre.  We  have  seen 
in  these  past  weeks  how  His  body  is  laid ;  to  how 
sad  an  extent  His  Church  lies  dead,  and  how  much 
it  needs  the  inbreathing  of  a  new  spirit,  or  rather 
the  restoration  of  the  original  life,  that  it  may  go 
more  swiftly  and  steadily  on,  conquering  the  sin 
and  sorrow,  cruelty  and  misery  that  are  in  the  world 
This  is  the  way  for  us,  who  would  honor  Christ 
among  men,  to  watch  for  Him.  Here  is  a  resurrec- 
tion for  which  we  can  make  ready.  The  least  of 
us  can  bring  something  every  day.  Like  Joseph  of 
Arimathea,  the  rich  man  may  do  much.  Like  the 
widow  in  the  temple,  the  poor  may  cast  in  what  they 
have,  and  take  the  wealth  of  His  love  who  loveth  a 
cheerful  giver.  Like  the  women  of  the  Resurrec- 
tion morning  we  can,  in  supplications  and  interces- 
sions and  communions,  hold  Jesus  by  the  feet  and 


208  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

worship  Him.  And  we  who  mourn  continually  for 
some  that  have  departed  hence  in  God's  faith  and 
fear,  because  this  was  not  their  Rest,  can  remember 
and  praise  Him,  that  those  who  sleep  in  Jesus 
God  will  bring  through  Paradise  into  glory,  with 
Him  who  is  the  first-fruits  of  them  that  sleep.  They 
will  be  Christ's  at  His  coming. 

Not  first  the  glad  and  then  the  sorrowful, — 
But  first  the  sorrowful,  and  then  the  glad ; 

Tears  for  a  day, — for  earth  of  tears  is  full, 
Then  we  forget  that  we  were  ever  sad. 

Not  first  the  bright,  and  after  that  the  dark, — 
But  first  the  dark,  and  after  that  the  bright ; 

First  the  thick  cloud,  and  then  the  rainbow's  arc, 
First  the  dark  grave,  then  Resurrection  light. 

'Tis  first  the  night — stern  night  of  storm  and  war — 
Long  nights  of  heavy  clouds  and  veiled  skies  ; 

Then  the  far  sparkle  of  the  Morning-Star, 
That  bids  the  saints  awake,  and  dawn  arise. 

0LORD  Jesus  Christ,  who  by  Thy  death  didst  take  away 
the  sting  of  death  ;  grant  unto  us  Thy  servants  so  to  fol- 
low in  faith  where  Thou  hast  led  the  way ,  that  we  may  at  length 
fall  asleep  peacefully  in  Thee,  and  awaking  up  after  Thy  like- 
ness, may  be  satisfied  with  it ;  through  Thy  mercy  who  livest 
with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost  one  God,  world  without 
end.    Amen. 

THE   END. 


